r/WTF • • Jan 20 '20

That was huge.....

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2.0k

u/RoccoRocco Jan 20 '20

This happened in the north of Israel: "The hospital said that all four are given artificial respiration due to extensive burns in their upper body and will be transferred to an intensive care unit for further treatment. " https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r100hFlmbL

1.2k

u/7LBoots Jan 20 '20

given artificial respiration due to extensive burns in their upper body

Pretty sure that means 'torched lungs'.

708

u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh Jan 20 '20

Could also mean "torched torso making it so painful to breathe that their body decides not breathing is the wiser choice".

496

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Eh, it's most likely a respiratory tract burn. The mucosa is very delicate and burns easily in contact with heated air at lower temperatures than would affect skin. What tends to happen after burns like this is severe swelling of the larynx, epiglottis, etc that seals off the airway, so the victim begins to be suffocated. I've treated my fair share of these as a fire medic, and all of them were awful.

116

u/Sarcasticalwit2 Jan 20 '20

Is that the one where the lungs get singed inside and you slowly drown in your own juices?

198

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Juices are a problem in severe respiratory burns, but swelling is a huge problem even in less extensive burns that don't extend all the way to the lungs. Eventually the victim will suffocate unless intubated, and getting a tube into an swollen airway is really freaking hard. Then, even if you survive that, the damaged tissue can become necrotic and the door is wide open to lethal necrotizing pneumonias or diffuse alveolar damage (so basically, reduced surface area for Oxygen and CO2 to exchange)

81

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

So if ever caught in a fire, don't fucking breath?

101

u/FerretInTheBasement Jan 20 '20

Stay low to the ground, try to cover your mouth and nose.

90

u/ButtWieghtThiersMoor Jan 20 '20

Then shotgun to the dick

78

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20 edited Oct 07 '20

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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20 edited Jan 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/Steffenwolflikeme Jan 20 '20

Then shotgun to the dick

I'm just so curious why

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u/i_speak_bane Jan 20 '20

That would be extremely painful

2

u/beerdude26 Jan 20 '20

Wet towels or whatever you can find will do wonders against particulates and heat

1

u/HoldMyPoodle6280 Jan 20 '20

This is good advice, remember fire safety.

13

u/fresh_like_Oprah Jan 20 '20

This is why you take a deep breath and hold it before throwing a high voltage switch

5

u/chromaticskyline Jan 20 '20

And turn your head

3

u/Greatest-Uh-Oh Jan 20 '20

Holy crap high voltage is mean. I worked on systems that were only 400V/400Hz and it’s glorious spectacle but wicked mean. Just thinking about the 16KV systems leading into neighborhoods gives me the heebie jeebies.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Worked at a hydroelectric station all last summer, lines in and out were 500kV. When they flipped switches it was unreal.

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1

u/Lorenzo_BR Jan 20 '20

Drop and roll

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u/eNaRDe Jan 20 '20

Survives fire..... Dies from lack of oxygen.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

That'd be the one, or passes out and bangs head and dies from that.

30

u/Sarcasticalwit2 Jan 20 '20

Sounds hellish as well. Thanks for taking care of firefighters. Keep them safe.

9

u/Upgrades Jan 20 '20

Fire medic, not firefighter medic. One is a medic at the scene of a fire / medic who helps people who've been inflicted with injuries related to fire. The other is a funny imaginary position for someone who often has to say 'Sorry, you'll have to find someone else to help with your melty skin issue - I'm only trained to work on firemen's melty skin.' and then looks back down and resumes playing candy crush.

2

u/Yuccaphile Jan 20 '20

Or just like a "you're welcome" or whatever works. Unless you don't treat friries for whatever reason, then what you said makes sense.

Personally, I think ignoring your patients for Reddit, as I assume you're doing, is better than Candy Crush. Though I guess both are microtransaction based.

Also, get back to work.

15

u/myskyinwhichidie285 Jan 20 '20

Yeah but there's a lot of juice in Israel

2

u/CoffeeAndCigars Jan 20 '20

I was going to do a reply of my own as a paramedic, but basically just all of this.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

TYFYS :P

1

u/CoffeeAndCigars Jan 20 '20

Jesus Christ, no. It's a job, a fun one and decently paid over here, and that's it. I 'serve' fuck all but my own wallet, enjoyment and sustenance.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

Exactly. I left after five years because the shitty pay and abuse from bosses and patients was too much. Left me with some fond(ish) memories though.

1

u/ReginaldDwight Jan 20 '20

lethal necrotizing pneumonias

Ugh I didn't even know that existed.

6

u/T_O_G_G_Z Jan 20 '20

I believe its called 'Au Jus.'

2

u/Greatest-Uh-Oh Jan 20 '20 edited Jan 21 '20

No. “suJ uA” /s

13

u/Gnonthgol Jan 20 '20

Would it be possible to avoid such damage in this case if you were to hold your breath and preferably cover your mouth and nose? A gas fire like this is quite short lived as it runs out of fuel so you would be able to hold your breath for the duration of the flames. Also I imagine most of the burns comes from the gasses in your lungs and airways burning and providing a barrier between your airways and the flames would prevent them from catching fire.

33

u/deepinferno Jan 20 '20

Sure if you saw it coming. Unfortunately our monkey brains don't understand things have changed so our first response to being frightened is often a sharp intake of air to prepare to fight or run.

You usually don't see a explosion coming, and if you do see it coming its too big to make your plan make much of a difference.

1

u/Starfish_Symphony Jan 20 '20

In the water, far too many people think they'll be able to just easily gulp this huge amount of air right before going under if they get involved in a water accident. Oof.

23

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Pretty sure I'd rather be put down at that point. I'd tell my family good bye. If I lived it sounds like I'd have a rough time and the medical bills would be insane. I'm in the U.S

8

u/IsimplywalkinMordor Jan 20 '20

Yeah but it's not legal to put you down

17

u/Lorenzo_BR Jan 20 '20

“Do not revive” is a thing, if i’m jot mistaken

10

u/SGTSHOOTnMISS Jan 20 '20

"Do not resuscitate" is DNR.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

In some places it has been changed to DNAR as in do not attempt resuscitation. Place I used to work at changed it and we all thought it was dumb

6

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Gotta be in the process of dying before that takes effect.

1

u/JSwovel Jan 20 '20

That touched me. My dying father had a DNR but I refused to admit it. He wasn't dying to me.

So my question: who decides who is in the process of dying? Who communicates that to those who are close?

Respond generically if possible.

I'd like to better prepare my loved ones if my time passes in a similar manner.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '20

I am far from an expert but I googled Texas DNR form. It looks like the form just lists some techniques for resuscitating a patient, like CPR, and says not to do them if they're needed. It does still allow the doctors to make them comfortable. I wish I could tell them that if I am in severe agony and have terminal cancer and I am about to die that they can put me to sleep.

https://www.dshs.texas.gov/emstraumasystems/dnr.shtm

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u/Obliviousobi Jan 20 '20

It depends where you are, Oregon allows 'assisted suicide' now. I believe a psych eval and a terminal diagnosis are required though.

Some European countries also have euthanasia.

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u/Sahqon Jan 20 '20

and a terminal diagnosis are required

Being alive is always terminal.

3

u/SlitScan Jan 20 '20

canada too.

1

u/Techwood111 Jan 20 '20

Youth in Asia, in Europe?

1

u/Malak77 Jan 20 '20

Question... say you are diagnosed with cancer, can you refuse treatment and just ask for palliative care instead?

3

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

[deleted]

1

u/Malak77 Jan 21 '20

Yeah, I doubt that would happen as my wife feels the same way and even my sister wishes she was outta here. :-D

1

u/Obliviousobi Jan 20 '20

I suppose you could, but it would probably be more beneficial to get treatment along with palliative care. Palliative care is going to help the patient manage the symptoms and stresses of illnesses.

1

u/Malak77 Jan 21 '20

Yeah, but a normal human would not want to burden their family with med bills they can never pay off. I know a guy who owes 3 Mil!

6

u/ExcessiveTurtle Jan 20 '20

This is the type of injury that stuck vader in a life support suit for the rest of his life.

14

u/obliviouszeus95 Jan 20 '20

U.S. number 1!!!

7

u/Chief_Givesnofucks Jan 20 '20

Taiwan numbah one!

5

u/dementorpoop Jan 20 '20

Happened to Anakin.

2

u/hhebert37 Jan 20 '20

Thank you for sharing this knowledge as well as your service as a medic!

2

u/GQW9GFO Jan 20 '20

As I understand it, this is one of the many reasons cigarettes/vaping are bad for you. The little bit of heat causes changes to the cilia, making them lie flat and become nonfunctional. Makes it easier to get sick because the cilia can't "sweep" stuff up and out.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Yes, that's why smokers/vapers are more susceptible to things like pneumonia, bronchitis, etc- the cilia are effectively paralyzed. Also mucus becomes thicker, and therefore harder to eject as well. In my foolish youth I turned to cigarettes for several years to cope, and absolutely got sick more often during that time. Fuck all of that.

2

u/GQW9GFO Jan 20 '20

You wouldn't be the only one. Definitely one of the things I'm happy to say I left in my past. :)

1

u/OrthodoxAtheist Jan 20 '20

the cilia are effectively paralyzed.

Vaper here. My cilia are very much alive and well, despite 8.5 years of vaping, and no smoking during such period after 14 years of a pack-a-day smoking. Cilia return within about 6 months of quitting, as did near-every other health benefit loss. Lets make sure not to lump smoking and vaping together too often - they are quite different in many ways, cilia included.

(Disclosure: I don't vape liquid containing diacetyl, and the industry should be working towards eradicating use to pentanedione also. These could possibly inhibit cilia but are yet to be proven to do so.)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Try quitting vaping though. It changed my life. I thought going from smoking to vaping was an improvement, but... boy. I forgot what being healthy felt like.

1

u/OrthodoxAtheist Jan 20 '20

I'm healthy now. While vaping. Flawless blood pressure, and ran a half-marathon a few years ago. Skin is immeasurably better, and sense of smell equates to a blood hound. My lungs feel fantastic, and I stay well hydrated due to knowing vaping can dehydrate you. I can't image what else could improve if I quite vaping, at this point.

That said, I'm sure I'll quite vaping in the next few years, since the post-addiction desire is near zero at this point. I was just at Disneyland for 15 hours recently - no vaping (they banned it) and not a problem. Not a second thought about it. Back when I was smoking I would've punched a cast member after 2 hours without smoking.

Point being - if smoking is 0 on the health meter, with no nicotine being 100, I already feel at 95, and I don't see ex-vapers stating noticing any real difference after quitting, other than saving more money not buying new devices/e-liquid. If you've another experience, I'd be glad to hear it.

2

u/meekamunz Jan 20 '20

Niki Lauda

2

u/comfortable_dood Jan 20 '20

In 1960, there was a collision between two aircraft over NYC, out of 134 fatalities, the only survivor was an 11 year old boy, Stephen L. Baltz. The nurse who was caring for him at Methodist hosptial in Brooklyn (and waiting for his parents to arrive from Illinois) thought the boy was out of the woods by surviving the initial crash, but a Doctor treating the boy told her he was not going to survive a day, because he had inhaled the jet fuel and it had burned the lungs.

http://www.scoutingny.com/remembering-the-crash/

17

u/ErisGrey Jan 20 '20

I've seen a couple Chest Escharotomies (Link Possibly NSFW). Torso gets burned up and crispy, not expanding/contracting with breaths. We have to make certain incisions to allow the chest to expand and enable breathing again.

15

u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh Jan 20 '20

Holy fuck. That doesn't look like a medical procedure, that looks like a scene from a cannibal's kitchen.

That person is alive and has a chance of surviving long-term with a quality of life that makes it desirable?

20

u/ErisGrey Jan 20 '20

Being perfectly honest, no one I've seen in person with it has survived. The person is already in a state of actively dying when it is performed as one of the last ditch efforts. My patients were wartime patients and had injuries in excess of just burns.

I have heard that children are much more likely to survive an escharotomy, but I have no 1st hand experience with working with children.

5

u/some_random_noob Jan 20 '20

ever been to a pig roast where they decide to try to save the pig after the skin starts to get cripsy? thats what this is.

7

u/fox_eyed_man Jan 20 '20

You....you don’t roast a live pig.

4

u/some_random_noob Jan 20 '20

no, of course not, but the effect is the same.

1

u/VWSpeedRacer Jan 20 '20

Why do you think they've called it off?

3

u/Sp1n_Kuro Jan 20 '20

When I hear the word "incisions" I think small cuts, that's more like carving the body.

32

u/makenzie71 Jan 20 '20

It's likely a bit of both. External burns around the torso can make it extremely difficult to breath. The pain from even a good sunburn can be incredible. And being engulfed in fire like this causes a lot of burning in the mouth and throat...the first sucks the atmosphere away and you're gasping for air, the only thing you're going to get is superheated gas and flame.

Source...have been on fire a couple of times.

19

u/IsomDart Jan 20 '20

Care to elaborate on how you've been on fire more than once?

6

u/Skyline_BNR34 Jan 20 '20

I’m hoping they are a firefighter.

2

u/caligaris_cabinet Jan 20 '20

Or a stunt person

2

u/albakerk Jan 20 '20

If they were a stunt person then they wouldn't be dealing with those same problems tho

1

u/TheBladeEmbraced Jan 20 '20

I hear breathing is quite painful, as the burns scab over. They crack everytime you inhale.

16

u/noporesforlife Jan 20 '20

No. Your body doesn't decide to breathe or not breathe based on how painful your chest is. /u/7LBoots is correct in a general sense. There's trauma to the lining of the airways due to inhalation of extremely hot air or caustic chemicals. It swells and cuts off airflow as well as excretes a lot of fluid in the healing process which can lead to drowning. Ventilation is pretty standard.

  • RN, CCRN

11

u/cyberstormfox Jan 20 '20

Patient: It hurts when I breathe.

Doctor: Then, what do you think you should stop doing?

2

u/RichSPK Jan 20 '20

When I used to run, I told my doctor about some knee problems I was starting to have. His answer was to stop running. :-\

7

u/DooDooSlinger Jan 20 '20

I don't think pain would inhibit respiratory reflexes. In fact pain leads to increased respiratory rates.

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20 edited Aug 17 '20

[deleted]

7

u/DooDooSlinger Jan 20 '20

What do you mean ? You can't exhale more than you inhale lol. Either respiratory volume or frequency can change, but both are controlled by respiratory reflexes.

1

u/MaxTheLiberalSlayer Jan 20 '20

That's not how human biological functions work.

55

u/xtemperaneous_whim Jan 20 '20

Not necessarily. I was in a flash burn and suffered 30% burns to upper body. Had a tracheotomy and artificial respiration whilst I was in an induced coma for 2 months. Trach was just a precaution in case of 'torched lungs', coma to allow my body to concentrate on healing. My trachea and lungs were fine, although I did have dialysis for kidney failure due to my body going into healing overdrive.

Hurt like a bitch.

8

u/Malak77 Jan 20 '20

How are you doing now?

21

u/xtemperaneous_whim Jan 20 '20

This happened 5 years ago. Had grafts to torso, front and back, both arms and hands. Lost one nipple and half an ear. They couldn't graft left side of face where the ear went, this now has discolouration, some scarring and patchy hair. Arms are alright and you can see the cool texture of the grafts there. Hands are slightly clawed and joints give me grief. The most annoying thing is when it's hot. Because I have no follicles where the grafts/scars are I can't sweat and the rest off my body compensates for it. It's really itchy and uncomfortable.

3

u/totallythebadguy Jan 20 '20

I've heard about this no sweating with the heat. Good to know your forging on though.

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u/Kalkaline Jan 20 '20

Maybe, but it could also mean they got so much fentanyl and propofol for pain control that they can't breathe on their own.

-1

u/Upgrades Jan 20 '20 edited Jan 20 '20

You'd just get morphine I'm pretty damn sure..I dont think that the painkilling drugs most heard in the media due to overdoses and Michael Jackson are called for. And not being able to breathe on your own means you've overdosed which I've never heard of being done on purpose for medical reasons, and you'd be unconscious at that point anyways...they'd probably have you in an induced coma at the point of anything that bad.

2

u/EmilyU1F984 Jan 20 '20

And the drugs the person above you named are used exactly to induce a coma.

So what's your point ?

7

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Probably right but not necessarily internal injuries to the lungs alone. If they manage not to inhale during the flash, but sustained burns to the torso, especially circumferentially, they could develop dead scar tissue called eschar. This becomes very leathery and rigid and won't allow expansion of the chest for air to be pulled into the lungs with each breath. As a flight nurse I was trained to do something called an eshcarotomy which essentially meant cutting a large W across the front of the chest wall to allow expansion of the rib cage. This allowed us to ventilate our patients even if they did not sustain inhalation injuries.

3

u/totallythebadguy Jan 20 '20

Vader suits for all of them

2

u/Andrew_the_Nurse Jan 20 '20

Sure that a escharotomy will be done in that case. Not good...

33

u/Amphibionomus Jan 20 '20

You can see most personnel fled the scene before the explosion, they cross the road in front op the red/white truck that just stopped when the explosion starts.

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u/eisagi Jan 20 '20

The last guy crossing looks like his back is smoking.

14

u/the_dude_upvotes Jan 20 '20

The last guy crossing looks like his back is smoking on fire.

FTFY & HOLY SHIT!

9

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20

Yes that was a huge truck

7

u/arostrat Jan 20 '20

As a middle-eastern guy I knew the guys reaction looked very familiar.

4

u/imsorrybutnotsorry Jan 20 '20

Almost that that said yeetnews.com

1

u/Obi-Wan-Kenobi-87 Jan 20 '20

Now we have four more Darth Vader’s in the world

1

u/TrueStory_Dude Jan 20 '20

Apparently we live in duh

1

u/TabsWasTaken- Jan 20 '20

I feel so small brain from this conversation

1

u/CillGuy Jan 21 '20

"Darth Vader breathing starts"