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Flatulence ignites operating theatre fire
New Zealand Herald ^
| 13 May 2006
| Staff
Posted on 05/13/2006 8:48:14 AM PDT by fanfan
A patient's "gas leak" is being blamed for bringing a hospital operation to a fiery end.
The man suffered minor burns in a brief but "dramatic" operating theatre fire which is believed to have been caused by flatulence, The New Zealand Herald reported today.
The man was at the Southern Cross Hospital in Invercargill to have haemorrhoids removed and was singed in the "exceedingly rare" incident involving his own gas.
"This was thought to be flatus containing methane igniting," a health source told the newspaper.
"There was a sort of flashfire and that was it, but it was fairly alarming at the time."
Haemorrhoids are swollen veins in the lining of the anus. If they protrude outside the body and become troublesome, they can be removed by surgery, which in the Invercargill case employed an electrical "diathermy" machine. A hand-held tool for cutting tissue and cauterising to stop bleeding, it produces heat and can spark.
Southern Cross is releasing little detail other than confirming an "electrical fire" occurred on March 22 and that it commissioned an independent forensic scientist to investigate.
TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Humor; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: fart; fireinthehole; flatulence; flatulencecankill; hatewhenthathappens; ouch; yikes
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1
posted on
05/13/2006 8:48:15 AM PDT
by
fanfan
To: Monkey Face; Darksheare; NicknamedBob; Tax-chick; tuliptree76; Dead Corpse; Knitting A Conundrum; ..
2
posted on
05/13/2006 8:50:21 AM PDT
by
fanfan
(FR is the best/biggest news gathering entity in the whole known history of the world. Thanks Jim.)
To: martin_fierro; Tijeras_Slim; dighton
You just can't make this stuff up.
3
posted on
05/13/2006 8:50:44 AM PDT
by
Toby06
(Make illegal immigration illegal!)
To: fanfan
You never have a video camera handy when you really need one.
4
posted on
05/13/2006 8:51:18 AM PDT
by
Dog Gone
To: fanfan
Take this one with a grain of salt. I have seen a surgeon cause such a fire by wiping the area with ether before cauterizing.
To: fanfan
He must have been drinking Hefewiezen and and eating hard boiled eggs before surgery..
6
posted on
05/13/2006 8:53:15 AM PDT
by
cardinal4
(Kerry-Mcarthy in 2008!)
To: fanfan
Methane is a very explosive gas...
7
posted on
05/13/2006 8:56:30 AM PDT
by
Irish_Thatcherite
(~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~| IRA supporters on FR are trolls, end of story!)
To: cardinal4
8
posted on
05/13/2006 8:57:20 AM PDT
by
Irish_Thatcherite
(~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~| IRA supporters on FR are trolls, end of story!)
To: fanfan
"There was a sort of flashfire and that was it, but it was fairly alarming at the time." OUCH!!
That's gonna leave a mark!
9
posted on
05/13/2006 8:58:08 AM PDT
by
MamaTexan
(I am NOT a * legal entity *, nor am I a ~person~ as created by law!)
To: fanfan
I hate when that happens.
10
posted on
05/13/2006 8:58:15 AM PDT
by
Rebelbase
("Mr. President if democracy is good for Iraq, why not Mexico?" --FReeper, rrrod.)
To: fanfan
I thought lighting farts was just something we learned to do in college.
11
posted on
05/13/2006 8:58:49 AM PDT
by
Drango
(No electrons were harmed in this posting. Several however, were inconvenienced.)
To: fanfan
Fire in the hole!
12
posted on
05/13/2006 8:59:44 AM PDT
by
bwteim
(Begin With The End In Mind)
To: Toby06
Old cartoon;
Customer leaning on the bar while the bartender polishes glasses. The back of the customer's pants are blown out and smoking. The wall behind him is blown through and the jagged edges are charred and smoking. Against the far wall of the next room are the incinerated bodies of an elderly couple still sitting in their overstuffed, singed, smoking chairs.
The bartender says, "Nice rip, George."
13
posted on
05/13/2006 9:00:58 AM PDT
by
Roccus
To: fanfan
14
posted on
05/13/2006 9:05:40 AM PDT
by
tiredoflaundry
(Once a Snowflake, always a Snowflake ! Good luck Tony!)
To: fanfan
CH
4 + O
2 = CO
2 +2H
2O
Delta H = -891kJ. (energy released; rxn is exothermic)
But there's incomplete combustion as well--CO, etc.
Of course in this case, we can also add OUCH!!! ;)
15
posted on
05/13/2006 9:05:49 AM PDT
by
rzeznikj at stout
(ASCII and ye shall receive... (Computers 3:14))
To: fanfan
I happens more than you know, mostly with men who tend to self-induce.
16
posted on
05/13/2006 9:11:09 AM PDT
by
Lady Jag
(Learning to shrug is the beginning of wisdom)
To: Toby06
So,...did they get rid of the hemorrhoids?
17
posted on
05/13/2006 9:12:03 AM PDT
by
D Rider
To: D Rider
No...the flames must have cauterised it pretty well!
OUCH!!!
18
posted on
05/13/2006 9:16:49 AM PDT
by
CarrotAndStick
(The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
To: fanfan
So this is the reason why we shouldn't eat anything the day before surgery.
19
posted on
05/13/2006 9:29:07 AM PDT
by
fzx12345
(Three lefts don't make a right; they invent one.)
To: fanfan
We used to do this in college to see who could generate the longest flame. Being drunk helped.
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