Michigan Boy, 5, killed in oxygen chamber explosion, says officials

A 5-year-old boy has died after a hyperbarian chamber he was in exploding at a medical facility Friday in Troy, Michigan, police and fire officials said.

The unidentified victim was inside the chamber, a pressure vessel that contains 100% oxygen when it suddenly exploded just before 2 p.m. 8 at the Oxford Center, located at 165 Kirts Blvd.

The explosion caused a fire to break out in the chamber’s room. It is unclear what triggered the explosion and the subsequent fire did not spread to the rest of the plant, police and firefighters said.

The scene outside the Oxford Center on Friday (Fox 2 Detroit)

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Police and fire officials said the boy from Royal Oak had died inside the chamber when they arrived on the stage.

His mother, who was inside the room, suffered damage to her arm, police say.

Troy Police Lt. Ben Hancock described the explosion as a “very sad event” and said such an incident is rare.

A hyperbar chamber at General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, depicted in 2006. A similar one is used in the Oxford Center. (Reuters/Allegheny General Hospital/Distribution)

“We are not familiar with answering one of these recently,” Hancock said. “Again, (a) terrible, tragic incident that we will not respond to.”

A hyperbar chamber contains 100% oxygen, which is three to five times the amount of oxygen compared to a normal room, the officials said.

“The presence of such a large amount of oxygen in an oppression environment can make it extremely combustible,” said LT. Keith Young from Troy Fire Department. “Our original research shows that this is not a regular incident and the scene remains during active examination.”

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It is unclear what condition the boy had that required him to be inside the chamber used to give hyperbar oxygen therapy (HBOT). A typical chamber holds a person and requires the patient to lie in a pipe-shaped device that looks like an MRI machine and breathes oxygen.

Hboy is known for treating divers and deep -sea divers influenced by the rapid change in pressure around them, according to the FDA. The devices are also used to treat a number of other health problems, including carbon monoxide poisoning, diabetic foot ulcers, cerebral palsy, anemia, skin infection and bone and vision loss.

Such devices require the FDA approval 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)

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In a statement to Detroit Free Press, the Oxford Center speaker Andrew Kistner wrote that the cause of the explosion is unknown.

“This morning a fire started inside a hyperbar oxygen chamber. The child who was treated in the fact that the chamber was not surviving and the child’s mother was injured,” the statement reads.

“Security and well -being for the children we earn is our highest priority. Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of giving this type of therapy. We … will participate in all the studies that are now going to take place “

In May 2009, an explosion of an oxygen chamber was under pressure a 4-year-old and his 62-year-old grandmother. Authorities said an explosion loosened a tube attached to the hyperbarian chamber, resulting in an explosion and flash fire, according to CBS.