We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Skin burns as a result of using commercial hand warmers in a drysuit using nitrox as a breathing gas. A case report.
- Authors
Anderson, G. P.
- Abstract
Background: This is a case report of burns suffered by a diver when commercial hand warmers were used in the feet of a dry-suit while using EAN32 (nitrox32 percent). Case report: A forty-one-year-old female assistant instructor with 1,300 logged dives dove in cold water off the coast of Vancouver Island in 2003. She was using a drysuit and 32 percent nitrox as breathing gas. During a surface interval, she used two commercial hand-warmer pouches to warm her hands and she then slipped them into her drysuit feet to stay warm diving. The maximum depth on the next dive was 135 fsw at the base of a wreck. After only two minutes at 135 fsw, she ascended to 90 fsw and her feet began hurting. Thinking it was due to a squeeze, she added more gas into her drysuit, and her foot pain worsened. She aborted the dive. On board, she noted that she had second-degree burns on the arches of her feet. She continued diving that and the next day without the warmers, and eventually healed without complications. Results: Commercial hand warmers oxidize iron powder to produce heat. At atmospheric pressure, 1ATA, the heat is not excessive. At 135 fsw, however, the partial pressure of oxygen was 1.63 ATA and increased the oxidation to cause the burns. An UHMS literature search failed to discover previous citations regarding this problem, although it is known that hyperbaric chamber fires have been caused by these products as ignition sources. Conclusions: Commercial hand warmers should not be used in drysuits especially when hyperoxic breathing mixtures are used. This is the first reported case of burns caused by this combination, and divers should be aware of this danger.
- Subjects
SKIN injuries; HANDWARMERS; RESPIRATION; HYPERBARIC chambers; ATMOSPHERIC pressure
- Publication
Diving & Hyperbaric Medicine: Journal of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society, 2013, Vol 43, Issue 2, p113
- ISSN
1833-3516
- Publication type
Article