Patient who vaped with mask set head alight

A WOMAN is believed to have set her own head on fire by vaping while wearing an oxygen mask in a hospital bed at Sunderland Royal.

- SAM VOLPE Health Reporter

Bosses at the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust have now issued an urgent warning highlighting the dangers of using vaping devices or e-cigarettes on the wards.

The woman in her 50s was being treated in a side room at the hospital when the incident occurred.

She was left with burns to her head - and it is alleged she had been vaping at the time.

Photographs released by the trust show how the subsequent blaze melted the mask and its tubing, fusing to a blanket and bedsheet and leaving scorch marks on the floor.

Hospital bosses praised staff on the scene for their quick-thinking.

Vaping or smoking while using oxygen is highly dangerous as the gas is highly flammable and can explode when ignited.