I didn’t know that MRI scanners formed clubs, or gangs, but it appears that they’ve at least colluded in Stockton, California, and they’ve got it out for the municipal firefighters!
About fifteen years ago, there was a fire at a medical office building in Stockton. The smoke was so thick that the firefighters searching the building didn’t see the MRI warning signs on the door they went through. Once inside the room, one firefighter felt his pike (a long stick with a hook at the end used to pull apart loose materials to look for fire) pulled to the MRI scanner.
Immediately recognizing the hazard, the firefighter went and told the incident commander of the risk. But before a warning could be broadcast to the other firefighters, a different fireman, this one with an axe on his belt, approached the MRI scanner and was pulled, bodily, to the scanner by the attractive forces acting on the axe-head.
Fortunately, no serious injuries resulted. (click here for an article on this incident)
Fast-forward to March of 2010, when Stockton MRI goes up in flames.
Stockton, California, MRI Center on Fire.
This time, the firefighters’ hoses, axes and pikes are supplemented with their acute awareness of the hazards of MRI. No firefighter will enter the MRI scanner room without confirming that the magnet is not at field, first. The fire, which didn’t originate in the scanner room, will be fought from all locations except the magnet room.
Apparently, however, one of the MRI’s at the center was in cahoots with the MRI from the fire 15 years earlier, and desperately wanted its very own firefighter souvenir. According to the newspaper report, the magnetic field from the MRI within the building pulled an axe out of the hands of a firefighter who was working on the roof of the imaging center!
As before, the accident did not result in any injuries. Unlike the prior incident, this MRI was denied its own firefighter souvenir .
The moral of this story is that if you’re a firefighter, be very cautious of the MRI’s in Stockton, California. In fact, since we don’t know how far this MRI conspiracy goes, it might be wise for geared-up firefighters to be extraordinarily cautious near all MRI’s!
Tobias Gilk, President & MRI Safety Director Mednovus, Inc. Tobias.Gilk@Mednovus.com www.MEDNOVUS.com
I remember that fire, and I appreciate the work Fire Fighters do for our city. I hope that more safety regulations come about to keep them safe when doing the rescue work.