A 5-year-old boy sadly lost his life after a hyperbaric chamber he was in exploded at a medical facility in Troy, Michigan. The incident occurred on Friday, according to statements from police and fire officials.
The young victim, who remains unidentified, was in the pressurized chamber that contained 100% oxygen at the time of the explosion. The tragic event took place just before 8 a.m. at The Oxford Center, situated at 165 Kirts Blvd.
The explosion led to a fire igniting inside the chamber’s room. Authorities mentioned that the cause of the explosion remains unknown, and fortunately, the fire did not extend beyond the chamber’s confines, sparing the rest of the facility from harm.
The scene outside The Oxford Center on Friday (Fox 2 Detroit)
It is unclear what condition the boy had that necessitated him to be inside the chamber, which is used to provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). A typical chamber holds one person and requires the patient to lie down in a tube-shaped device that looks like an MRI machine and breathe oxygen.
HBOY is well known for treating scuba and deep-sea divers affected by the rapid change in pressure around them, according to the FDA. The devices are also used to treat a variety of other health problems, including carbon monoxide poisoning, diabetic foot ulcers, cerebral palsy, anemia, infection of the skin and bone, as well as vision loss.
Such devices require FDA clearance to ensure that they are approved to be used as intended and are safe and effective.
The scene outside The Oxford Center on Friday (Fox 2 Detroit)
In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, The Oxford Center spokesman Andrew Kistner wrote that the cause of the explosion is unknown.
“This morning, a fire started inside of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The child being treated in that chamber did not survive and the child’s mother was injured,” the statement reads.
“The safety and well-being of the children we serve is our highest priority. Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy. We… will participate in all of the investigations that now need to take place.”
In May 2009, an explosion of a pressurized oxygen chamber killed a 4-year-old and his 62-year-old grandmother. Authorities said a blast dislodged a tube attached to the hyperbaric chamber, which resulted in an explosion and flash fire, according to CBS.
