Alright, I did a search on the subject here on the forum and came up with nothing. Maybe I searched wrong or something? Maybe it has not been discussed, or much if at all? I sincerely think this is an issue that needs to be brought to attention!

I learned about this type of hazard a year or so ago, but did not realize how serious and how much of a presence it can make in our everyday lives. I just got through with my extrication ops and we learned a little about it so we could be aware of it. It was also the first time I got to see some pictures of how SEVERE an injury it can be!

Being that we deal with high pressure diesel, I think it needs to be brought to attention. Now, not only for our trucks, but for also everyday things. People need an awareness to this issue. I dunno how the p7100 or cp3 systems work, but I do know on the vp44 system, everything after the IP is at around 4500psi.

ANYTHING over 100psi is enough to penetrate your skin! 4500psi is more than enough to do serious damage. Think about what your potentially dealing with and be aware of how bad you could be bitten by it. Even wearing gloves will NOT protect you!

DO not stick your hands or fingers over ANY hydraulic leak! High pressure hydraulic fluid can penetrate through gloves and THROUGH your hand! The injury itself will not initially look like an emergency situation, but it is. You need to get to the nearest hospital ASAP.

I know I personally have stuck my hand in front of a pressure washer nozzle to clean my hand off. I could have EASILY caused an injection injury to myself. It does not matter what type of fluid that has been injected, at best it will cause tissue damage. Although, the worse the chemical injected, the worse the injury can become!

I will include a couple sources on the issue so people can gain more knowledge on the issue:

http://lifeinthefastlane.com/2011/05/high-pressure-injection-injury/

^Read the description and then click on the Q(uestion) dropdowns for further info.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgtqCUF1E5A

Here are some pictures:

***********GRAPHIC***********

^Look at how minimal the injury seems on the outside.

^Here is what can develop from it if left untreated or if its a severe enough injury.

Remember, anything that causes a fluid to be circulated and/or discharged at pressure ABOVE 100psi, can cause an injection injury capable of these types of injuries!

Dang, that is bad. Common rails have upwards of 25k psi to the injectors.

When I was involved with Scuba Diving... heard about a rash of "clowning around" injuries tank pressures of 2000-3000 psi. I've heard of it with HP industrial air lines blowing grease right through the skin. They used to give Polio Vacines with air pressure... I went to a clinic where it was done.

At my old job, years, ago, a guy was jacking around and blowing dust off of him with an air hose and blow gun.. injected his forearm with compressed air by accident. It was quite nasty.

Yep, air can cause an injury such as one like this. The other important factor about the pneumatic injury is that you can get air bubbles in your circulatory system and those bubbles can travel to your heart or brain and kill you.People NEED to be careful. I should put up some info on what a hydraulic leak looks like under pressure. Its not invisible, but you gotta know what to look for so you can recognize the hazard.The last hand in the series of pictures in the first post was a man that suffered from a catastrophic failure to a hydraulic system.Thats an aspect that has got me a little worried when I operate my log splitter or especially the extrication equipment from the firetruck. The extrication equipment have 2 couplers for the hoses that run the tool and they lock together a certain way. If the person hooking them up does not do it right, fluid can spray from the fittings and make the operators day a very bad one.

Over on Tractor Farm and Family there is a video on how to skin animals using compressed air. Neat way to skin out animals but bad thing for yourself...

Over on Tractor Farm and Family there is a video on how to skin animals using compressed air. Neat way to skin out animals but bad thing for yourself...

Yea, I've seen them videos before. Pretty neat. Have not been able to do it myself yet, since I don't have me one of those air crushers...

Yes, air in the blood stream is called an air embolism, a real danger for novice scuba divers. One takes a breath at depth which equals outside pressure, if air supply is cut off one must exhale on the way to the surface. Yes, it is possible... not proud of my bad judgement staying to tighten one last shackle on a job at 110 feet of ocean. I sucked 2 more partial breaths out of the empty tank on my way up. I was a pro at the time & a certified instructor... like I said... bad judgement & I nearly paid for it. Lets say one is at 33 feet pressure = 2 atmospheres or about 30 psi... 1 atmosphere is a little less than 15 (rounding up 14.7 but the decimals don't matter). If you filled a ballon as full as you could at 33 feet... say 1 cubic foot... it would expand from the change in pressure to 2 cubic feet. Since lungs can't explode outward in destroys the lung tissue forcing massive amounts of air into the blood stream which, like a stroke, block the blood flow. The only divers I know to survive this were submarine excape drills in the 100 foot training tank at NewLondon sub-base (there used to be data available on this but it been withdrawn) or other military dives where the diver could be retrieved and swiftly (the clock is ticking) recompressed far below the starting depth... enough that the bubbles will now go back into solution & pass all capillaries. Think days in a decompression chamber with full medical support... while healing takes place.

Yep, air can cause an injury such as one like this. The other important factor about the pneumatic injury is that you can get air bubbles in your circulatory system and those bubbles can travel to your heart or brain and kill you.