A nurse seriously injured in an oxygen tank explosion at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro has been moved to a local burn center and is listed in critical condition
By Charles W. Kimand and Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writers
PLAINSBORO — A nurse seriously injured in an oxygen tank explosion at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro has been moved to a local burn center and is listed in critical condition, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
A patient and a visitor who also were in the third floor room at the time were treated for smoke inhalation and released, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The preliminary investigation has determined that the oxygen tank caused the explosion and a brief fire that followed, but the reason for the blast remains under investigation, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The explosion occurred just before 9 p.m. Thursday night.
”University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro is continuing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the explosion,” said Andy Williams, spokesperson for the hospital, on Friday.
As a precautionary measure, 18 patients in the area of the explosion were moved to other floors within the hospital. Counselors and chaplains are providing emotional support to patients, family members and employees, he said.
The hospital is continuing with normal operations for inpatients and outpatients today, including surgeries and outpatient services such as lab and radiology, according to Mr. Williams.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, there was only one paper item smoldering, but the room had obvious damage from the blast, according to Plainsboro Fire Department Lt. Tom Healey.
”The ceiling tiles buckled and came down and the walls were damaged (in the room),” he said.
He also said there was a “haze” when he and other first responders arrived.
The nurse who was in the room at the time of the explosion was taken around 11:30 p.m. by New Jersey State Police helicopter to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston for treatment, officials said.
Princeton resident Vito Porcaro, 52, who was visiting his mother on the third floor at the time of the explosion, said, “I looked around the corner and saw a lot of people running around and a lot of smoke.”
Mr. Porcaro said the room was “demolished” from the blast and that he saw the staff worker, he described as a female African-American knocked out on the floor.
”The woman was on the floor and when I looked at her she was out cold,” he said.
Mr. Porcaro said the woman came to and was “struggling” and talking in a panic.
When other staff members were able to get her on a stretcher, he said he could see “layers of skin off of her face.”
He also said the blast tore parts of her clothing off as well.
Another Princeton resident was visiting his newborn son, born Thursday morning, when he heard the explosion.
”I heard a very, very loud bang,” Wayne Shen, 45, said. “A nurse asked us to stay in the room.”
As of 11:30 p.m. most of the units left the scene while investigators from the Middlesex County Fire Investigation Unit, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Plainsboro fire and building officials remained to conduct the investigation into the blast.