5 Hurt at Clinic as Pressurized Chamber Blows

Five people were injured Friday when a pressurized chamber used to treat stroke victims exploded at a medical clinic.

Two people who were sitting in the hyperbaric chamber sustained injuries similar to the bends suffered by divers who ascend too quickly, said Emmy Day, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Department. The chamber, which is a pressurized tank used to increase the supply of oxygen to the brain, suddenly lost pressure in the explosion.

Three other people in a nearby waiting area of the Health Restoration Center were struck by flying debris, including chunks of the heavy plastic chamber door, Day said. One of them suffered a skull fracture, she said.

“The doors and windows rattled,” said Bruce Johnson, a commercial real estate broker who works nearby in the complex. “I heard bang and thought it was a car accident. It sounded like that.”

The five injured people, all in their 50s and 60s, were in stable condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. Their names were not immediately available.

Investigators had not determined the cause of the 5:53 p.m. explosion in a business park in the 22000 block of Aspan Street.

The clinic provides outpatient care for stroke patients, many of whom live in the Leisure World retirement community nearby in Laguna Hills.

The chamber that exploded was one of three at the clinic. Two patients in the other chambers were not injured, Day said.

Patients spend two hours in the chambers, where the pressure is twice that of the normal atmosphere, Day said. Hyperbaric chambers also are used to supply pure oxygen to burn victims, skin divers and people who have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, she said.