Hit in eye with 1000mw 445nm blue laser

Moebius · Dec 11, 2011

^^^^

@madmacmo
I get you point. But negative media could shut this forum down.
Then it wouldn't be much help to anyone would it?
The website Magmabeam suggested he contact does not keep records
of these types of incidents so the only result I can see is bad media.
Food for thought.

EDIT:
I stand corrected. They do keep records of these types of incidents.
I didn't see the other "eye injury report" because it happened a year ago.
This incident is now described in detail at the top of their "news" section.
Interestingly, this "incident report" is not like the other (one paragraph) ones they list.
It's an extremely detailed full page using images taken directly from this thread with time-lines,
actual quotes from a members post and details on the seller.
I'm very pleased that they commended LPF in their "editorial".

Hobbyist injures self with 1 watt blue laser

Moebius · Dec 12, 2011

^^^^

I agree with what you said, "There must be a way to provide a "good faith effort" toward a safe laser use educational service".

My only concern is that the website that Magmabeam suggested Xoul contact is a site which IMO wouldn't mind making it harder for LPF to exist/operate.
I also agree with your PM. :beer:

This has been an important thread and I'm glad people are reading it.
I hope it helps educate the growing influx of overconfident under-experienced people like the one in this thread.

xoul · Dec 12, 2011

Going under the knife tomorrow. The anticipation is killing me. Wish me luck.

Bionic-Badger · Dec 12, 2011

After reading this, I'm feeling more convinced that I should just go and buy those goggles I've been eying to protect me from red...

Roger O · Dec 12, 2011

xoul said:
Going under the knife tomorrow. The anticipation is killing me. Wish me luck.

Good luck to you xoul. Please let us know how you are doing.

CalmSeasQuest · Dec 12, 2011

madmacmo said:
First off – xoul,
I sincerely do hope all works out for you. Thank you for keeping us updated.

Just a quick stab at some suggestions:

Derive a Ten Commandments LPF Safety type of bylaw; e.g.
1) Thou shalt wear safety goggles
2) Thou shalt always point a laser in a safe manner and direction
3) Thou shalt Not point a laser at any person, aircraft, vehicle, or animal
3) Thou shalt Not allow any noob to hold, operate, or play with any >5mW laser
4) Thou shalt resist temptation to sell any >5mW laser to anyone that does not display the maturity and judgment necessary

Create a Near Miss Forum (or just a Sticky Thread under Safety & Legal) - where I work we utilize a Near Miss Reporting system, for situations that occur which did not involve an accident but very well could have if conditions had been just slightly different. Such occurrences are reported so that all may benefit in being aware of what happened in order that steps are taken to prevent it from happening again to that person or anyone else engaged in a similar task. Individuals are made aware they will not be admonished for any safety related lapses they report, in effort to ensure there will be no fear of retaliation and thereby prevent hesitation to make such reports.

Create a Medical Response Forum (ditto above for just a Sticky Thread under Safety & Legal) – where this could be nothing more than a list of emergency facility names, locations and associated phone numbers to allow members quick access to truly accurate and specialized medical advice immediately for emergency situations just like what happened to xoul. I know I will search out what emergency specialized eye care providers are available within my geographic area just to be prepared should I ever need to know in a hurry.

Anyway, just food for thought and I welcome others comments and suggestions.

Edit: Rephrased a few rough statements, added just a bit more context in a few places, and corrected grammatical and spelling errors

Great Post!

This parallels what we're doing in marine aquaria as many are now experimenting with the lasers. We've created a series of Best Practices that are similar to your commandments concept. I've also posted a link to this thread and the retina photos to demonstrate how dangerous lasers can be if adequate safety precautions are not taken.

Best of luck with surgery xoul - I hope your doctors are able to repair the damage!

InfinitusEquitas · Dec 12, 2011

xoul said:
Going under the knife tomorrow. The anticipation is killing me. Wish me luck.

Good luck:beer:

Sorry that you had to have this experience. I have to say seeing that picture of your retina... it's downright scary. I hope they can clean up some of the damage.

Hope to hear back from you soon.

As an aside to you and everyone else... I can't count how many times I had close calls, and was thankful I was wearing goggles. Get a pair of comfortable ones and just keep them on if you're going to have lasers on, and doing anything.

Xenophobe · Dec 12, 2011

I hope everything goes smoothly.
Get well soon xoul.

BShanahan14rulz · Dec 12, 2011

Here's rooting for ya, xoul! :wave:

Benm · Dec 13, 2011

xoul said:
Going under the knife tomorrow. The anticipation is killing me. Wish me luck.

I hope all will be well!

Perhaps the moment of truth will be after that blob of blood has been removed, revealing whatever damage was done at the point of impact. If there is any, i hope it will be outside your central vision, and the center of the blood cloth seems to be, albeit not by much.

sopark4000 · Dec 13, 2011

Good luck with everything

Bionic-Badger · Dec 13, 2011

This incident is actually pretty interesting, because normally the laser eye damage we hear about are in research studies or are just someone getting spooked by a regular laser pointer. The picture of the retinal damage is especially interesting, and will be a good reference for us to point people to if they ever doubt that these lasers cause "real" damage. Too bad it took an incident like this though.

skir0987 · Dec 13, 2011

Best of luck with everything. My dad recently had some very bad eye damage from chemical burns--it's amazing what those eye doctors are capable of.

sopark4000 · Dec 13, 2011

Moebius said:
^^^^

I agree with what you said, "There must be a way to provide a "good faith effort" toward a safe laser use educational service".

My only concern is that the website that Magmabeam suggested Xoul contact is a site which IMO wouldn't mind making it harder for LPF to exist/operate.
I also agree with your PM. :beer:

This has been an important thread and I'm glad people are reading it.
I hope it helps educate the growing influx of overconfident under-experienced people like the one in this thread.

I checked out the website (laserpointersafety.com) and I agree that sending this story to them will not help our cause but only hurt it. While there intentions may be good the website basically only talks about the negative aspects of lasers. No mention of the importance of safe use of lasers in the fields of medicine, science, entertainment, electronics etc. Like I said they may have good intentions but when it comes down to it all that site does is supply visitors with every possible negative aspect of lasers.

InfinitusEquitas · Dec 13, 2011

I kind of wish they would put this:

pilots need to be reassured that the chance of eye injury (retinal damage) is practically non-existent. They also should know how to “recognize and recover” from distracting or vision-impairing illuminations.

In the beginning of the article, as opposed to at the VERY end.

Link

sopark4000 · Dec 13, 2011

InfinitusEquitas said:
I kind of wish they would put this:

In the beginning of the article, as opposed to at the VERY end.

Link

Agreed. Luckily the site does mention that in nearly every case where an eye injury was reported by a pilot further medical exams revealed no permanent damage. But still the site just has nothing but negative laser info.

Hit in eye with 1000mw 445nm blue laser

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