How tragically awful 
So, so tragic. Such young women too, and sounds like a fabulous horse.
That is just heartbreaking.
Explosion of hyperbaric chamber at Ocala horse farm kills woman and horse.
Another woman seriously injured. Scary stuff. There is a mobile one of these parked at the flat track in Saratoga Springs, NY near the new backside barns in the summer. They are literally right in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
www.wftv.com has the report. How horrible. One spark in all that oxygen.
My friend’s horse just had surgery but at surgi-care, thank goodness.
So so sad I was at work, but my builder called me and told me he heard an explosion. I’m about 4 miles northeast and drive right by there to get to the show almost every day. Jingles for all involved.
Wow, I just can’t imagine. I read another report where the staff were in the process of turning off the machine since the horse was starting to act up.
Are feet wrapped but shoes not pulled? Are horses usually tranqed?
This link shows a different picture and explains what happened:
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/fatal-hyperbaric-chamber-explosion-reported-marion/nHZLx/
From the article: "The two women were watching the horse via video from another room when the horse started kicking while in the chamber. While normally tranquilized, this time the male horse was not.
The horse kicked a protective coating off its hooves, causing a spark due to the horse’s steel boots underneath."
There doesn’t seem to be any signs of a fire. I wonder if instead of a combustive explosion, it was a tank rupture due to over-pressurization?
Just terrible, so so sorry for the families of the victims, and jingles for the person taken to the hospital.
How scary, looks like it was a HUGE explosion (over head photo) I had a few thoughts .
- I didn't even know that they used hyperbaric chambers for horses! (I have never had the budget for high end rehab)
- My first thought, horse acting up… a spark from metal on metal.. looks like others are thinking the same thing
- Looking at other chambers, I am really surprised the walls are not lined in rubber! Looks like some ARE and some are NOT. But even this lined one is not lined as high as a horse can kick.
Do any COTHer’s use these? Does it really just take a spark to set off an explosion? Are shod horses usually put in them? Seems like some sort of rubber boot over shoes would be prudent – and PLEASE I am not trying to blame the victims here, just wondering if this tragic accident will result in different protocols, or if those are already in place (I realize no one knows yet what set off this disaster).
[QUOTE=Frank B;6135304]
There doesn’t seem to be any signs of a fire. I wonder if instead of a combustive explosion, it was a tank rupture due to over-pressurization?[/QUOTE]
No fire needed Frank, oxygen under pressure is very combustible. It is known that sparks from the shod hoof can set it off. How horrible, God bless to all those involved.
Why wasn’t the horse sedated?
So what was the gaseous fuel? For combustion to occur, fuel, oxidizer, and an ignition source are required. There should also be signs of scorching around the opening in the tank.
Flatulence comes to mind, but that would have to be one heck of a fart to create enough Methane to reach explosive levels.
[QUOTE=Frank B;6135350]
So what was the gaseous fuel? For combustion to occur, fuel, oxidizer, and an ignition source are required. There should also be signs of scorching around the opening in the tank.
Flatulence comes to mind, but that would have to be one heck of a fart to create enough Methane to reach explosive levels.[/QUOTE]
You might want to Google the process and then speak.
How awful. My heart goes out to those involved.
Condolences to all involved.
How tragic.
Link?
The video on the first link explained pretty much all the questions.
- The horse had been in the chamber 4 times previously and was fine, so they determined that he didn’t need sedation this time.
- He kicked the protection off his foot.
The first time I heard of hyperbaric therapy was a few years ago when several Saddlebreds were attacked (yeah, let’s hear it for humans!) in KY. They tried unsuccessfully to save at least one using this method. That doesn’t read right - one or two were saved, whether or not using HB I don’t know. The one with the ‘biggest name’ they could not save, and I know they used HB on him.
Carol
[QUOTE=Appsolute;6135321]
JDoes it really just take a spark to set off an explosion? [/QUOTE]
The atmosphere inside a hyperbaric chamber, as I recall, are higher pressure, higher percentage oxygen. Oxygen is highly flammable. Sparks and highly flammable oxygen are a bad mix.
Sorry for all involved.
oxygen is highly flammable. the spark from horseshoes striking could possibly ignite it when oxygen saturation is that high.
