Boy’s heart stops for 16 minutes after tube comes loose in Hong Kong hospital
A six-year-old boy's heart stopped for 16 minutes after his breathing tube came loose from the ventilator.
Hong Kong Children's Hospital has initiated a serious investigation following a critical incident where a six-year-old boy's heart stopped for about 16 minutes. The boy, who has a rare underlying disease, was admitted to the hospital's Kai Tak facility in late December 2025. He underwent an interventional procedure under general anesthesia on March 26, 2026, and was subsequently transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for monitoring, where he remained intubated and on ventilator support.
The following morning at 7:29 a.m., a nurse discovered the boy in cardiac arrest and immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The hospital confirmed the cardiac arrest occurred after the patient's breathing tube became disconnected from the ventilator. In response, the hospital stated it is "deeply concerned" and has taken immediate measures to strengthen monitoring for all patients requiring ventilator care in the ICU. A root cause analysis panel will be established to investigate the incident thoroughly and recommend improvement measures to prevent future occurrences.
The boy remains in intensive care, receiving ongoing ventilator support and protective treatment for his brain following the prolonged period without oxygen. This incident highlights critical patient safety challenges in high-dependency medical environments, particularly concerning equipment connections and continuous monitoring protocols for vulnerable paediatric patients on life support systems.
- A six-year-old boy with a rare disease suffered a 16-minute cardiac arrest after his ventilator breathing tube disconnected.
- The incident occurred in the paediatric ICU at Hong Kong Children's Hospital following an interventional procedure under general anesthesia.
- The hospital has launched a root cause analysis and strengthened monitoring protocols for all ventilator-dependent ICU patients.
Why It Matters
This case underscores critical patient safety risks in ICU settings and will likely lead to revised protocols for ventilator monitoring nationwide.