Man Dies while filling Paintball Marker with Air

[crom-dubh]

Hmmm interesting debate.

There is no way in this world that Air or CO2 from a tank is ever gonna get into your blood stream.

There are probably more accidents with CO2 than air, freeze burns for example. Air tanks exploding are very rare indeed, and we dont know enough about the incident to play detective or start a panic fest.

It does go to show you how safe paintball is, because one isolated incident and everyones got their knickers in a twist worrying about their homes blowing up

 

[Cube]

Originally posted by crom-dubh
There is no way in this world that Air or CO2 from a tank is ever gonna get into your blood stream.

Not actually true, there is a real danger of pressurised gases, especially compressed air entering the blood stream when mis-handeled. I used to have to train people in the dangers of compressed air and that was straight off the HSE.

Though we did use to tell people that the chances of compressed air passing through the skin etc and putting a bubble into the brain causing an aneurysm were pretty slim, incredibly slim in fact, but still it doesn't pay to pi$$ about with compressed gases.

It's like everything else, treat it with respect, use it properly, don't mess about and it's as safe as houses.

Nothing to worry about, I agree with your sentiments about how safe paintball is, but then after some of the stories mentioned here I wonder how complacent people actually are.

A wake up call might be a good thing, bit not a panic call.

 

[ADVHellas]

Just to say that 3000psi are exactly 207 bar and 4500psi are 310 bar.
HPA systems are dangerous and always-always be careful.
I am from Greece, playing of course paintball and as a SCUBA diver ( commpressed air ) i have seen many accidents.
We can not imagine how easy an accident can happen.
There are so many factors in an accident....
Wish that accident is the last in paintball community.

 

[tb-303]

Originally posted by Cube
Not actually true, there is a real danger of pressurised gases, especially compressed air entering the blood stream when mis-handeled. I used to have to train people in the dangers of compressed air and that was straight off the HSE.

OK, Take an average days ballin' for example, can you please tell me how this can happen on that day? this is a paintball forum and this should be taken in context and from a paintball angle.

This type of talk annoys me, coz ppl are generalising and not applying their arguements to paintball. Compressed Air and Co2 need to be treated with care i don't dissagree with that, but the chance of them entering the bloodstream while on a days ballin' is'nt gonna happen(unless you can proove it, which no-one has done yet)
As pupster said. think as a newbie, now if you started balling and read here that Co2 and Compressed Air could get into your blood stream and kill you, while playin' ball, you'd be a bit scared and prolly won't play ball again. it's scaremongering without any evidence and is unnessessary(unless you prove it to me)

you can drown in water, but it don't stop me drinking the stuff or washing my kit in it! but i ain't gonna post here warning people of it(ok silly example, but you can see were i'm coming from)

Originally posted by Cube

It's like everything else, treat it with respect, use it properly, don't mess about and it's as safe as houses.

now that i DO agree with.

peace.

tb-303

 

[QuackingPlums]

Originally posted by crom-dubh
It does go to show you how safe paintball is, because one isolated incident and everyones got their knickers in a twist worrying about their homes blowing up

Haha... FUD-tastic. We should write for The Sun...

I hear that not only does an exploding tank have the capacity to level 10 city-blocks, but demagnetizes all the strips on credit cards, re-programs ATMs to give out free money, melts the silver layer in your entire CD collection, makes you run with scissors, leaves the toilet seat up and stops the little light coming on in your fridge when you open the door....

 

[Liz]

Lots of comments here about CO2 & air not being able to get into the blood stream under normal paintball usage, but how many times have you seen someone on a hot day spraying themselves from a CO2 bottle to cool off? Not so common now, but when everyone used CO2 you would see it all the time & yes, that IS enough pressure to push it through the skin without noticing anything & for it to form bubbles.

The guys at the last UKPSF marshalling course WERE listening & the look of horror on their faces during the lecture on compressed gasses was almost funny. Probably the biggest shock to them was the bit on how surgery can be required to remove bottles frozen to your hand if you don't wear gloves when filling. Someone many years ago used to have some piccys of exploded CO2 bottles & the damage they can do, & a hand after a bottle freeze down incident - very scary!

You've also all ignored the fact that breathing excess CO2 is not a good thing either. A miniscule leak from a CO2 bottle can be enough to cause drowsiness & headaches on a longish drive home from a day playing, significantly imparing driving ability. Lots of CO2 in the air you breathe can cause unconciousness, though I don't know whether there is any permanent damage from this.

Of course, as long as we treat these compressed gasses with respect then there shouldn't be any accidents, but unfortunately many people out there really don't know what simple precautions they should take. If this thread means that one less person fills CO2 without gloves on, or stops using compressed CO2 to chill off on a hot day, then it's worth it.

 

[tb-303]

Originally posted by Liz
The guys at the last UKPSF marshalling course WERE listening & the look of horror on their faces during the lecture on compressed gasses was almost funny.B]

good, but i still ain't convinced a 7oz bottle would do that much damage to a building. i'm guessin he means one of the big tanks not a 7oz.

tb-303

 

[JoseDominguez]

quite right, i was just responding to an earlier comment about co2 being more dangerous. (it's not as it's more likely to dissolve in the blood anyway), as I said earlier, if an air tank fails then getting bubbles in the blood stream is the least of your worries, the blast could kill you outright even if no shrapnel hits you.

 

[JoseDominguez]

1) you can get a syringe effect from a tiny hole.
2) a co2 bottle failing won't level a building, it's a low pressure system, but a failed air tank could.
3) Gas bottles have burst discs, if somethings gonna go--that's what it will be.
4) As for proof, you don't need it...it's all fact, it's just very, very unlikely to happen. (I'm a science teacher).
5) Comments on CO2 from liz- are all very valid, it should be treated with respect, it can freeze-dry your flesh, suffocate you in sufficient quantities and cause embolisms if it gets in your blood stream (causing heart failure or stroke depending on where it comes to a stop).

HOWEVER: If it happens in the UK the Health and Safety Executive would be down on the sport like a ton of bricks..... the safety practices in place are great: If your bottles are checked regularly, you wear gloves when you fill with C02 and site owners continue to set up Co2 in open spaces then you'll be fine.
(it's the dodgy player filling an eight year old soda-stream bottle from a bulk tank nicked from a local pub in his bedroom you gotta watch).
As for one person killed while filling a gas bottle at a dive shop. Sounds more like misadventure than negligence or an equipment failure. (unless it was actually a dive tank he was filling and the article is worded wrong).

 

[How]

2) a co2 bottle failing won't level a building, it's a low pressure system, but a failed air tank could.

"A 7oz tank can take down a 2 story house" - I'm just going on what the UKPSF marshalls told us, and if yourso sure you try but i want to be the first to write "fool" on your tombstone. That is why when travelling with over a 7oz tank you are legally required to put a sticker on your car, so if you crash firemen wont go near it risking their lives even more than normal (i doubt that the UKPSF can get national laws wrong). However most people dont, i dont.

3) Gas bottles have burst discs, if somethings gonna go--that's what it will be.

People often replace then with small bits of metal sometimes cut from a coke can, and ive been told that these will never burst. Also some people put 2 burst discs in to stop it bursting and its things like these that prevent them venting of gas before it explodes.