SCALDED BY HOT WATER

« **on:** June 12, 2008, 05:10:52 pm »

Hi all,

Last saturday i got scalded by hot water from the truckmount. One of the female solution hose brass fittings failed.(TM was running at about 235 degrees). I got scalded on my hand, wrist and elbow. Ran to the nearest toilets and held my arm under cold water for about 15 minutes. Then every 5-10 mins whilst on site for 2 minutes. Finished the job off & on my way it was burning really bad so stopped at the chemist. Showed it to the pharmasist & asked if he thought i needed to go to hospital he replied just go home place in cold water for 20 miutes then apply this cooling gel. At about 5am Monday morning i could not bear the pain so took myself to A&E. Doctor could not believe the pharmasisit didnt tell me to go straight to A&E. My hand had swollen by now to nearly twice normal size. They kept me in for hours to monitor me as i was vomiting because of the pain. The bandaged my arm in a gauze soaked in a parafin type then applied dressing from my hand upto my armpit. I was then sent home with antibiotics to combat the infection that had set in. Still in pain now but it is bearable. Because i was in such a rush to get away from the job i had left a wand 2 solution hoses and my jacket that had my wallet with £80 cash in it with my cards & my mobile. Went back to the site today and all was there at the security desk (nothing missing thank god).

« **Reply #1 on:** June 12, 2008, 05:25:22 pm »

sorry to hear about your accident Richie , hope it's getting better , is there something to learn from your accident. ie should we be changing hoses after a certain length of time.

john

« **Reply #2 on:** June 12, 2008, 05:30:30 pm »

Speedy recovery Richie, a few chilled beers will keep you cool.

« **Reply #3 on:** June 12, 2008, 05:32:59 pm »

I've been seriously thinking of wearing gauntlets and safety glasses because of this risk, imagine if the water had hit your eyes, luckily not many people work at this temp.

hope you get better soon.

Mike

« **Reply #4 on:** June 12, 2008, 05:46:30 pm »

The hoses are about 15 years (YES 15 YEARS) old the fittings are probably 3-5 years old. It was the nipple inside the fitting that failed. Im back at hospital tommorrow to have it checked out again. Hopefully i will have the dessings & bandages off in the morning.

Richie.

« **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2008, 05:53:31 pm »

Speedy recovery and luckily it never went into eyes , as mentioned

« **Reply #6 on:** June 12, 2008, 05:57:57 pm »

Richie,get well soon m8,and think yourself lucky,could have been a lot worse.
If the hoses are that old maybe it is time to change them as if a hose had burst it could have been your customer or a child that could get scalded,that would no doubt end in a court case.
Enjoy your rest-

John

« **Reply #7 on:** June 12, 2008, 06:02:44 pm »

Richie it won't be the first time you've had your fingers burned

Shaun

Get well soon

« **Reply #8 on:** June 12, 2008, 06:04:43 pm »

There you go Chris, you can add that to your eco marketing. 'And we won't scald your kids.'

« **Reply #9 on:** June 12, 2008, 06:23:13 pm »

Scalded myself years ago by a car radiator cap. That was painful but not as bad as you incident I am sure.
Hope you ok soon.

« **Reply #10 on:** June 12, 2008, 06:23:39 pm »

Keep having this horrid thought of someone changing tools on their truckmount. They turn off their solution hose valve then pull the vac hose off the tool and it jerks up and sucks their eyeball out. It must have happenned. Off for therapy now.

« **Reply #11 on:** June 12, 2008, 07:00:57 pm »

WOW, sorry to hear this. What are the chances of this happening?

« **Reply #12 on:** June 12, 2008, 07:18:55 pm »

Vastly reduced if using cold solutions

« **Reply #13 on:** June 12, 2008, 07:37:29 pm »

Frostbite?

« **Reply #14 on:** June 12, 2008, 07:44:42 pm »

Sorry to hear of your woes Richie

Get well soon.

If only you were an employed person, you'd be getting paid whilst you heal. And probably end up with some compensation too :

It could have been worse though. The fitting could have been really tight, and you could have been trying to uncouple it whilst in the UmiGoolies position

SAFE and happy cleaning

Ken

« **Reply #15 on:** June 12, 2008, 07:48:14 pm »

Sorry to hear of your heated ordeal Richie.
I got really badly scalded with my 1st Maxx470 .
Mind you I think I'd rather be scalded than electrocuted to death with a porty.

« **Reply #16 on:** June 12, 2008, 07:54:18 pm »

Quote from: John Kelly on June 12, 2008, 06:23:39 pm

Keep having this horrid thought of someone changing tools on their truckmount. They turn off their solution hose valve then pull the vac hose off the tool and it jerks up and sucks their eyeball out. It must have happenned. Off for therapy now.

John, your weird!

Get well soon Richie. I know a few years ago I had a weld burn and thought that it would be a really bad scar area. I put a big burn plaster (clear latex type thing) on it and it gel'd and went all squishy over time. The skin tissue was looking crap but after a few days (5 I think) I took it off and it was amazing. Brilliant stuff. Not much help but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Kev

« **Reply #17 on:** June 12, 2008, 08:00:47 pm »

Kev, its just I've had a few near misses especially when taking the hose off the end off the wand which is just below head height. It just seems an easy thing to happen. Just pray we never actually hear of it though.

Did hear a tale some years back of a young kid going up to a van in the states and putting his eye to the vac inlet port

Never did find out if it was true or not.

« **Reply #18 on:** June 12, 2008, 08:05:22 pm »

john, how right you are, i once pulled off the vac hose and it did jump up and stuck to my cheek, me and my helper laughted about it, it looked funny at the time but after a few minutes i realised what could have been, as you say i had this vision of it pulling the eye out, it scared me enough that now i am a bit over cautious about vac hose removal,

colin

ps hope you get better soon richie

« **Reply #19 on:** June 12, 2008, 08:24:12 pm »

Im gonna be paranoid now.

« **Reply #20 on:** June 12, 2008, 08:46:25 pm »

Hi Richie

Really bad news , hope you get mended soon !

Cheers

Doug

« **Reply #21 on:** June 12, 2008, 09:03:15 pm »

Hi Ritchie,
Hope you get better soon. About 6 or 7 years ago I bought a high flow shut off valve that fits on the truckmount solution hose output, and it was worth every penny as soon as you had a burst hose it would automatically shut off. It wasn't cheap, I think it was about $180. I wonder if they are available in the U.K.? The only time they don't work is when your pressure washing..........I lost mine when I took it off when doing a patio.............So you've reminded me I want another one!!!!

All the best
John

« **Reply #22 on:** June 12, 2008, 09:39:02 pm »

Sounds a good idea John - not heared of that.

« **Reply #23 on:** June 12, 2008, 10:33:08 pm »

I remember you telling me about your scald Glynn. I have been hit by hot water from a TM before but nothing like this time. The pain was instant & sickening. My biggest regret was not going to the hospital in the first place instead i thought someone like a pharmasist knew better than me. The Nurse in A&E told me that a scald any bigger than a 50p coin size needs hospital attention. She said burns & scalds get straight past your bodies first defence (your skin). The scald on my hand & wrist was about 5x4 inches & the one on my elbow about 4x4 inches. The itching is now driving me mad though. The old hoses get used once in a blue moon nowdays, i was running about 500 feet of hose at one point. The TM is near 15 years old & still works a treat (especially on the heat side

)

Richie.

« **Reply #24 on:** June 12, 2008, 10:37:12 pm »

Quote from: John Kelly on June 12, 2008, 06:23:39 pm

Keep having this horrid thought of someone changing tools on their truckmount. They turn off their solution hose valve then pull the vac hose off the tool and it jerks up and sucks their eyeball out. It must have happenned. Off for therapy now.

John,

You might not believe it but I have had two nightmares about that happening to me. I think it’s because its a real risk that could easily happen.

« **Reply #25 on:** June 12, 2008, 10:40:16 pm »

Get well soon Richie.

« **Reply #26 on:** June 12, 2008, 10:40:16 pm »

burst pipe check valve avaliable on Ebay No; 250257465909

this might work

« **Reply #27 on:** June 12, 2008, 11:40:24 pm »

When I worked on the railway putting up the electrification wires one of the lads used to clean the concreting gantry off with a compressed air hose, i'm talking about the ones used to drive windy picks. When he got a piece of gravel which wouldn't budge he used to bend the air hose over and poke it out. Big Yorkshireman he was about 6'3". Anyway one day the hose burst when he bent it over and what looked like a blue flame shot out. It was actually just air at extreme pressure. Thing is it was an inch away from his dangly bits. Never seen anyone turn that shade of white either before or since. It would have sliced them clean off.

« **Reply #28 on:** June 13, 2008, 07:56:08 am »

Being a yorkshireman was his dangly bits his purse?

Shaun

« **Reply #29 on:** June 13, 2008, 08:58:04 am »

« **Reply #30 on:** June 13, 2008, 09:04:24 am »

Quote from: Kev Loomes (formula6) on June 12, 2008, 08:24:12 pm

Im gonna be paranoid now.

I wouldn't worry Kevin, those Speedsters are just toys, power/heat wise compared to a T/M.

It's definately put me off buying the Titan now.

« **Reply #31 on:** June 13, 2008, 10:37:38 am »

Even toys are dangerous in the wrong hands

and very competent when used by an expert

« **Reply #32 on:** June 13, 2008, 06:28:56 pm »

On a job today and every time I went near the solution hose I thought "scalding" and every time I disconnected a suction hose I thought of "eye balls being sucked out".
Scary

« **Reply #33 on:** June 13, 2008, 07:17:47 pm »

Quote from: Mike Osbourne on June 13, 2008, 09:04:24 am

Quote from: Kev Loomes (formula6) on June 12, 2008, 08:24:12 pm
Im gonna be paranoid now.

I wouldn't worry Kevin, those Speedsters are just toys, power/heat wise compared to a T/M.

It's definately put me off buying the Titan now.

I thought you were gonna buy a Prowler Mike?

« **Reply #34 on:** June 13, 2008, 08:32:34 pm »

Hi Richie,
Just read your story and felt so bad,, as if burning yourself was not bad enough then you loose your stuff,glad it was there! money included you were lucky, there isnt many people out there left that are so honest!!hope your better soon!. if I was you I would go back to the pharmacy and tell her what you had to go through Makes me mad as they say now you should go to them more instead of your doctor, how does that help? if they do this to you.
It probally cost more for you to be in hospital for however long you were in there than if they has sold you the burn strips in the first place!I got badly burned when I was younger I had put the kettle on for my dad when he came home from work (Being a daddys girl I always wanted to make him a cup of tea as I had missed him)ARRRHHHHH?

so I put the kettle on and my little sister came by swinging on the pole at the breakfast bar, knocked me and I poured a whole kettle of just boiled water on my right wrist and arm,OUCH!!the burn strips your on about were amazing they soothed and reduced the scarring.I only have a scar still now because my mum paniced and pulled my top off.
Anyway listen to me dribbling on, get well hon and take care in future.
Kind regards
Michelle x :

« **Reply #35 on:** June 13, 2008, 08:49:25 pm »

Hope you're getting over it now Richie.
Knowing little about truckmounts I have to ask why would anyone need water at 235 degrees (centigrade?) unless it is to allow for temp drop along the feed hose. If so what temp is at the wand?
Had a feed hose on a porty burst at the wand handle once and that was bad enough at about 60 degrees. Water spraying everywhere whilst I ran about trying not to trip over the suction hose on the stairs.

« **Reply #36 on:** June 13, 2008, 10:03:57 pm »

Hi all,

I had to go back to the hospital this morning. The doctor took off the bandages & gauze. OHHHHHH what a relief. Just to have fresh air on my arm was a dream. The doctor had a look & said he was very pleased with the way it was healing. Although the scalds are still very red they are not as vicious looking and the swelling to my hand has gone down 50%. He told me to go outside for 20 minutes to allow the air to get to it. It was heaven, i didnt want to go back inside. When i went back into the doctor he informed me that he will be putting the gauze and bandages on again as it still needed time to heal without the risk of airborn nasties. I have got to take the bandages off again in 3 - 4 days time and allow the air to it again. Doctor said i should not have to go back to hospital again however, if im concerned then to go straight back.

Richie.

« **Reply #37 on:** June 13, 2008, 10:18:26 pm »

Quote from: Kev Loomes (formula6) on June 13, 2008, 07:17:47 pm

Quote from: Mike Osbourne on June 13, 2008, 09:04:24 am
Quote from: Kev Loomes (formula6) on June 12, 2008, 08:24:12 pm
Im gonna be paranoid now.

I wouldn't worry Kevin, those Speedsters are just toys, power/heat wise compared to a T/M.

It's definately put me off buying the Titan now.

I thought you were gonna buy a Prowler Mike?

I was but I don't want to look like this

No, saving up Kev, money is going into marketing, and shares in oil companies.

« **Reply #38 on:** June 13, 2008, 10:31:11 pm »

Hows work Richie?
When will you be back?

« **Reply #39 on:** June 13, 2008, 10:57:14 pm »

Back in work Tuesday, got 3 quotes, through lounge, 2 bedrooms to do.

Richie.

« **Reply #40 on:** June 14, 2008, 12:44:55 pm »

Scary story. My lead hose is only 3 years old but I might change it now.

Would this check valve that Mike has posted work. At its a cheap safety option.

MArk

« **Reply #41 on:** June 15, 2008, 09:07:44 pm »

Hi all,

I took my bandages off today to let the air get to the scalds. The scald to my hand is VERY wrinkled & still quite sore but the swelling is just very slight now. The scald to my elbow area looks MUCH better. No where near as sore as it was at beginning. Most of the scalded skin that went brown has now come off this scald & has revealed very pink super soft skin. This area is itching like mad & is driving me crazy because i know i cant scratch it.

Richie.

« **Reply #42 on:** June 15, 2008, 10:47:20 pm »

Richie

That itching is a sign it's healing.

Are you allowed to put something on it?

Do you think something cooling or something warm would make it feel better?

« **Reply #43 on:** June 16, 2008, 12:03:24 am »

I have got some anti itch cream but will check with the doctor tomorrow to make sure its ok to use.

Richie.

« **Reply #44 on:** June 16, 2008, 08:27:48 am »

Some type of moisturiser will be OK, E45 or dermol 500 should be OK

« **Reply #45 on:** June 16, 2008, 07:42:41 pm »

My sister sat on her hair strighteners and burnt her arse really bad, her friend who is a phamicist recoccomended this cream for the itching, its called
ACRIFLEX. my sis brought it from allcures online. Not sure if that helps
luc

« **Reply #46 on:** June 16, 2008, 08:03:44 pm »

Aloe vera is meant to be good for burns too.

MArk

« **Reply #47 on:** June 16, 2008, 09:21:52 pm »

Doctor advised E45 itch relief cream & a moisturiser. The E45 has certainly helped. Skin is so dry & tight at the moment.

Richie.

« **Reply #48 on:** June 16, 2008, 09:23:40 pm »

Quote from: richie on June 16, 2008, 09:21:52 pm

Doctor advised E45 itch relief cream & a moisturiser. The E45 has certainly helped. Skin is so dry & tight at the moment.

Richie.

I should be a doctor

« **Reply #49 on:** June 16, 2008, 09:26:31 pm »

Getting back to work will be best as it will distract you from your itching.