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Fire Erupting During Surgery (On The Surgical Table!)

EnolaGaia

EnolaGaia

I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
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This isn't SHC per se ... I don't think I'd ever heard of fire breaking out on or within a patient undergoing surgery. I suppose it's a fairly obvious risk factor once you consider the materials on hand in a surgical procedure.

Rare 'Flash Fire' Ignites in Man's Chest Cavity During Surgery

Scalpel. Check. Sponge. Check. Fire extinguisher...check?

When you think about the risks of surgery, "fire" usually doesn't come to mind. But that's what happened to a man in Australia who experienced a "flash fire" in his chest cavity during emergency heart surgery, according to a new report of the case.

While fires during surgery are rare — and chest cavity fires even more unusual — the case "highlights the continued need for fire training and prevention strategies" during surgery, study lead author Dr. Ruth Shaylor ... said in a statement. In particular, doctors should be aware that certain circumstances during surgery — including the presence of high oxygen levels together with sources of heat — can increase the risk of fires. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/65615-chest-cavity-fire-surgery.html
 
Frideswide said:
I /think/ I've read about fire happening during rectal or bowel surgery....
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EnolaGaia said:
Me, too. Some of the gases most likely to be freed from the intestinal tract are quite flammable, as schoolboys have demonstrated to no end ...
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:freak: So utterly glad I've read this thread now, and not 8 months ago :freak:
 
I remember a Mythbusters episode where they tried to recreate a fire under surgical conditions. It was mostly using lasers and cloth. They did get combustion but I think the lasers needed were more powerful than you find in surgery. Maybe.
Anyone?
 
I heard about this sort of thing recently at a fire stewards course I did. The example given was of the alcohol used to swab the patients back pooling in there rather than evaporating off although I don't remember what caused that ignition.
 
I was looking for the exploding gas during bowel surgery stories, but found this instead.... A strange death and a WTF!

https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/17/pati...ng-table-undergoing-treatment-poison-9581031/

Metro Lucy Middleton Friday 17 May 2019 7:39 am
Patient’s head explodes on operating table while undergoing treatment for poison

A woman in India died on the operating table after a medical procedure allegedly made her head explode. Sheela Devi, aged 40, was rushed to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, after reportedly consuming an unspecified poison.

Doctors then used a gastric lavage procedure to try and remove the toxic substance from her stomach, but it seemingly reacted with the treatment and ignited. CCTV footage taken from inside the hospital shows medics gathered around Ms Devi, before there is a big flash at the end of her bed. The room then fills with smoke as the professionals frantically try to see what happened.

A gastric lavage procedure involves sending a small volume of saline solution into the stomach which is then sucked back out in order to remove the toxins. The suction pipe had been placed in Ms Devi’s mouth shortly before the explosion. A post-mortem is now being carried out to examine what triggered the eruption.

Chief medical officer, SS Zaidi from the JNMC, said: ‘An explosion occurred in her mouth, and flames along with smoke came out of her mouth while the medical team were trying to suck out poison from her stomach.’

He added: ‘There could be possibility that she allegedly consumed Celphos tablet (Aluminium phosphate) which releases phosphine gas in addition to Aluminium oxide and other gases (which are highly flammable) and the explosion occurred when it came in contact with gastric acid. ‘We have CCTV footage of the incident and we have watched it several times as such a thing has simply never happened in medical history.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/17/pati...ergoing-treatment-poison-9581031/?ito=cbshare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
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Min Bannister said:
I heard about this sort of thing recently at a fire stewards course I did. The example given was of the alcohol used to swab the patients back pooling in there rather than evaporating off although I don't remember what caused that ignition.
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Possibly static discharge.
 
Xanatic* said:
Wouldn't some surgeries involve some cauterisation? Perhaps that could ignite things?
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Yup, a surgeon got in trouble for signing his initials with a cauterising tool on patients' internal organs a year or so back. He found it hilarious but witnesses were horrified and reported him.

Seems harmless but it's assault.
 

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