The news media in Central Florida is reporting a tragic accident involving horses and people at the KESMARC Equine Rehabilitation Center, located at 15500 Highway 326 near Ocala, and the death of one person.
WFTV Channel 9’s report on the KESMARC explosion says that the dead person is a woman and that another person has been taken to the hospital.
Channel 9 is also reporting that one horse was killed in the explosion, and that other horses have been evacuated.
A more detailed account on the local news website ocala.com reports that the “woman killed was 28-year-old Erica Marshall and the injured woman was Sorcha Moneley, 33.”
The same web site ascribes comments from fire officials who said that there was a problem with the horse in the chamber. Eventingnation.com is reporting that the dead horse was an eventer owned by Jacqueline Mars.
It may be days or weeks until the complete story is known. Or it may never be known. It is, however, a tragedy for the horse world.
KESMARC Florida’s web site is currently not available.
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Here’s a video about hyperbaeric oxygen therapy for horses.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has become a popular treatment in the equine industry, following its successful use in human therapy. HBOT is suggested as a helpful therapy for conditions requiring tissue repair, so it is often used with horses suffering from limb injuries, infections, burns and laminitis. HBOT is available at centers in most regions of the United States.
Alamo Pintado Equine Hospital in California and Hagyard Equine Medical Center in Kentucky are just two of several well-known equine hospitals that are equipped with hyperbaric oxygen units.
According to its Facebook page, KESMARC Florida is a large rehabilitation center with? a 100,000 square-foot building accomodating up to 75 horses, plus therapy equipment such as underwater treadmills, hot/cold saltwater spa, an indoor 200-foot-diameter swimming pool, an indoor synthetic jogging tracks, Eurociser, and the vertical hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
At least one other hyperbaric oxygen chamber is available to horses in Ocala at The Sanctuary.
While HBOT is widely perceived as safe and oxygen therapy for horses has become quite routine, two people died from injuries when a chamber exploded during a treatment session in South Florida in 2009.
Here’s a video about KESMARC Florida:
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