Fire on an intensive care unit caused by an oxygen cylinder

BTS guideline for oxygen use in adults in healthcare and emergency settings

“…Oxygen supports combustion and there is a risk of fire if oxygen is used close to combustible materials and a source of ignition. There is one case report of a serious fire caused by spontaneous sparking in the outflow system of an oxygen cylinder 452. Although oxygen is not an explosive gas, it is possible for oxygen cylinders to explode if heated during a fire, and deaths have been recorded in these circumstances 453 454…”

Oxygen: friend or foe in peri‐operative care?

“…It is likely that these figures are gross under‐estimates because over‐use of oxygen in COPD alone may cause a few thousand avoidable deaths in the UK each year, as estimated above, and there may be large numbers of additional deaths associated with hyperoxaemia amongst survivors of cardiac arrests and critically ill patients including those with stroke. Additionally, there are risks due to the combustion‐enhancing properties of oxygen: there are documented instances of fires in homes and ambulances caused by the use of oxygen near sources of ignition, and a letter in this edition of Anaesthesia demonstrates in graphic detail that the same risks are ever‐present in hospitals . MacDonald has reviewed the risk of fire and explosions caused by oxygen and other gases used during and after anaesthesia .…”

The development of a model for the prediction of polymer spontaneous ignition temperatures in high pressure enriched oxygen across a range of pressures and concentrations

“…It is possible that a number of more minor cases may have gone unreported. One recent example, described by Kelly et al (2013), details a regulator failure in an Intensive care unit in. This incident resulted in one patient having severe burns, 2 staff member having breathing difficulties and a great deal of disruption to other patients and staff on the medical ward.…”