Michael’s rapid intervention saved the sight of the dishwasher repairman

An ordinary routine matter led to a serious accident that could have had a sad ending. When a broken dishwasher was to be repaired at Hotel Heden, the repairman got corrosive chemicals in his eye. But thanks to the resourceful intervention of the restaurant manager Michael Dovholt, his sight was saved.

It was a completely normal day at Hotel Heden in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the kitchen, restaurant manager Michael Dovholt had stepped in to help prepare the day’s lunch. In the dish washing room, which is right next to the kitchen, a repairman from an external consulting firm was working to fix a broken hose to the big industrial dishwasher where the fine china is washed. Everything was normal. But then suddenly Michael and his colleagues heard a loud scream.

“Someone was yelling “Help, my eye!” and it took a few seconds before I understood what had happened,” Michael says.

Corrosive chemicals

But he soon realised that something had happened to the repairman. In the middle of the repair work, highly corrosive industrial detergent had splashed into his eye.

“I rushed into the dishwasher room where he was standing holding his eye and and wailing “My eye, my eye”. So I quickly guided him to our First Aid station where we have bottles of eye wash from Cederroth. I took a bottle and asked him to hold his eye open so I could start flushing it.

Emergency treatment required

The repairman was of course in a lot of pain and Michael had to struggle to help him keep his eye open so he could flush it, as his reflex was to squeeze his eye shut again. At the same time, Michael called 112, who confirm that emergency treatment is required.

“When I explained what symbols were on the detergent bottle, they said on 112 that the situation was very urgent and that there was a risk that he could lose his sight because the detergent contains bleach, which is highly corrosive. They told me to keep flushing his eye until the ambulance arrived.

Four bottles were used

It only takes four minutes before medical staff were at the scene and a total of seven minutes from when the accident occurred until the repairman was on his way to the hospital’s eye clinic in an ambulance. In that time, four bottles of Cederroth eye wash were used.

“When the medical staff came and took over, they connected a drip tube behind his eye and continued to flush it with their own solution. When I spoke with the repairman’s colleague the following day, I learned that they had used a total of 17 litres of fluid to flush the eye, including our four bottles of eye wash. Then you understand how important it is to flush a lot and for a long time,” says Michael Dovholt.

Quick intervention saved his vision

During the meeting the day after the accident, Michael also learned that the repairman’s vision had survived. The doctor who attended to him at the hospital had said that he was convinced that the quick intervention by Michael had helped to save his sight.

“I have worked in this profession since 2008 and have never experienced anything like this. The accident was an eye-opener for me and everyone else at work to how incredibly important it is to have eye washes like this and other First Aid material close at hand and to intervene quickly, but also to flush for a really long time,” says Michael Dovholt.

Text: Karin Cedronius

Cederroth recommends

In the event of an accident, it is important to start flushing the eyes within the first few seconds. It is also important to create an effective flush, with an abundant flow of liquid. The liquid should also be buffered, i.e. have a neutralising effect on splashes of alkalis (for example, bleach) and acids (for example battery acid). Therefore, the Cederroth Eye Wash has been designed so that it opens at the same time as it is twisted out of its holder: it has an eye cup that guarantees an optimal flow, and contains a flushing liquid with the right composition.