(CBS DETROIT) — A 5-year-old Michigan boy was killed Friday morning when a hyperbaric chamber he was inside of exploded, officials said.
Police and firefighters responded to a medical facility in Troy around 8 a.m. Friday for a report of a hyperbaric chamber explosion. When emergency responders arrived at the facility, they found the boy, from Royal Oak, dead inside the chamber.
The boy’s mother, who was near the chamber when it exploded, suffered injuries to her arms. No one else was injured in the explosion.
Police did not say what the child was being treated for.
Police and fire officials have not determined the cause of the explosion. Crews were able to contain the fire in the room.
A hyperbaric chamber is an enclosed space that delivers pure oxygen to the body with higher than normal air pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic. During the oxygen therapy in the chamber, air pressure is increased 2 to 3 times higher than normal air pressure.
Hyperbaric chambers can be used for life-saving, limb-saving, and tissue-saving treatments, as well as for other treatments, such as low red blood cell counts caused by blood loss and sudden hearing loss from an unknown cause.
Because a hyperbaric chamber contains such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurized space, it can be extremely combustible.
Social workers with the Oakland Community Health Network are working with first responders and medical staff who responded to the scene.
An investigation is ongoing. The medical facility is closed until further notice.
