Never take a gun to an MRI fight

[Hankenhunter]

What a stupid hill to die on.

https://m.fark.com/goto/12747962/www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/lawyer-dies-after-gun-triggered-by-hospital-mri-scanner/ar-AA17inns

Edited February 10, 2023 by Hankenhunter

[pellinore]

7 minutes ago, Hankenhunter said:

What a stupid hill to die on.

https://m.fark.com/goto/12747962/www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/lawyer-dies-after-gun-triggered-by-hospital-mri-scanner/ar-AA17inns

I Googled this to see if an MRI scanner could really discharge a gun. It seems it has happened a few times in the US:

In the other case, according to a 2002 report in the American Journal of Roentgenology, a gun discharged in an MRI after it was pulled from the hand of an off-duty police officer as he attempted to place the weapon on a cabinet about 3 feet away from the MRI's magnet bore. No one was injured in that case.

In 2009, another off-duty police officer in Florida sustained a minor hand injury when her department-issued gun was pulled inside an MRI machine. 

Gun discharges in 'procedure room' at Indianapolis Veterans Affairs hospital (indystar.com)

Edited February 10, 2023 by pellinore

[+joc]

15 minutes ago, Hankenhunter said:

What a stupid hill to die on.

https://m.fark.com/goto/12747962/www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/lawyer-dies-after-gun-triggered-by-hospital-mri-scanner/ar-AA17inns

Seriously.   MRI machines are so dangerous.  Why do they even let anyone except the patient and the doctor into the same room.  

Of course we are talking about Brazil...but still...even in America you cannot bring a gun into a hospital zone, licensed or not, only Police Officers.  This guy was a lawyer...probably not a very good one either judging from his complete lack of judgement.

Edited February 10, 2023 by joc

[Hankenhunter]

3 minutes ago, joc said:

Seriously.   MRI machines are so dangerous.  Why do they even let anyone except the patient and the doctor into the same room.  

Of course we are talking about Brazil...but still...even in America you cannot bring a gun into a hospital zone, licensed or not, only Police Officers.  This guy was a lawyer...probably not a very good one either judging from his complete lack of judgement.

Not to mention the downtime to get the MRI back online. Hope no one else dies because of his stupidity.

[+susieice]

MRIs are highly magnetic. An EMT was killed when the watch he was wearing pulled him into the machine. That's not in this write up but accidents involving MRI machines are increasing. No metal of any kind should be in the room. Not even a key. It seems this attorney was told that and chose to ignore it.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1057960&page=1

Edited February 10, 2023 by susieice

[+and-then]

I was a registered MRI technologist for nearly 15 years.  The single worst tragedy I ever heard of was when some technologists were scanning a small child in NY, IIRC.  The kid had fallen and suffered a head trauma and had been sent to CT first.  He was found not to have any fracture but out of an abundance of caution the doc ordered an MRI before deciding to release him to home.  Just a note here - some adults who are extremely claustrophobic have to be sedated before they'll go into the scanner and almost ALL small children have to have conscious sedation because they simply can't hold still while awake.

Since he was already on a gurney they rolled him into the scan room and got him on the couch and had begun the scan when an anesthesiologist called for oxygen and a transport aide walked into the room with a steel oxygen bottle.  By the time he felt to pull, it was too late and that bottle accelerated directly to the location where the child's head was.  It killed the kid and the scan wasn't really even that crucial to his care.  

There was a national conference on safety after that event and now when anyone goes to an MRI area in any U.S. hospital there is clear signage explaining/warning of which "zone" you are in.  Some hospitals even use metal detector wands on everyone going into the room with the magnet. 

[Hankenhunter]

Nothing horrible or gory. 

[+susieice]

I was wondering about patients in wheelchairs. Oh no I wouldn't get pushed in there. Forget the stretcher too now transport.

[+and-then]

56 minutes ago, susieice said:

I was wondering about patients in wheelchairs. Oh no I wouldn't get pushed in there. Forget the stretcher too now transport.

Most modern magnets are "actively" shielded so that you can get to the end of the couch with even a ferrous wheel chair without worrying about a mishap.  Also, most hospitals will purchase at least one non-ferrous wheel chair.  The field strength variations obey the "inverse square law" the field strength seems to rapidly increase every time one reduces their distance from the magnet by half the distance.