Pro Brewer severely burned at work in Idaho

[Kealia]

Did you all see this?

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/07/1 ... -edge.html

Second degree burns over 30% of her body. If it can happen to a pro it can happen to you, too.

Be safe always, think a good thought for her and raise one in her honor the next time you have a homebrew.

[Beer-lord]

I think we all can take this hobby for granted a quickly forget a number of safety needs.
Glad this wasn't worse.

[RedBEERd]

I love how the brewing world has stepped up, donated money and is helping at the pub. That doesn't surprise me though.

Thankfully this wasn't worse.

[BlackDuck]

Wow....in just the blink of an eye and she's burned that bad. Something we all need to remember when we've got that burner on!!!

[Dawg LB Steve]

Know all too well first hand, no pun intended, how fast a boil over can come. As home brewers, with the smaller volumes we use, we usually are far enough away from a potential boil over. Standing on a platform right at the opening of more than likely something in the neighborhood of 900 gallons or more of boiling sugar water and having the equivalent of a wave of hot break coming out at you is a scary thought! Glad she is doing better, that could have been exponentially worse!

[RickBeer]

“She threw the hops in there and it started bubbling and boiling and had a bad reaction,” Cory Thomas said. “She turned her back for a moment because she wanted to make sure her assistant was OK and as soon as she turned her back, it just exploded and ‘volcanoed’ all over her.”

I thought of Steve's injury when I read this. We all need to stay focus and be careful - when you're cooking, when you're moving a pot of boiling wort, etc.

It's so easy to lose your attention when doing things - we've all done it - this shows what can happen.

[D_Rabbit]

Exactly while I went single tier and no moving of pots. Only have to touch semi hot hoses and am typically far enough way that this isnt' a concern. I do keep an extremely close eye on the friends I have over that are brewing with me because they tend to be at more risk since they are not aware of the possible issues, from hot water to propane issues.

Glad to see she is in good spirits. Seems to be a freak issue here. Hope she gets back to her job quickly as she appears to really enjoy it!

[LouieMacGoo]

When I brewed last weekend using my new burner it got to a boil much faster then my other burner and as a result it started to foam up and boil over. Fortunately I was able to adjust the flame before it actually did boil over, but had I not caught it I know it would have spashed my legs and burned me. This story is an unfortunate reminder of how careful we as homebrewers need to be. Having worked in a hospital ER I have seen varying degrees of burns from the minor to the 3rd degree over 80% and it's never pretty. The biggest thing that they have to worry about with this woman is infection. Loosing that much of your body's protective layer of skin really opens you up to infection.

Also, just an observation, the article stated that she has 2nd degree burns, however it goes on to say that she will need surgery and skin graphs. Usually in my experience you don't need surgical skin graphs unless it's 3rd degree. Not sure if it was an oversight of the author or they were misinformed. Maybe Docpd can chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.