Dialysis Employee Drowns in Water Tank

A 35-year-old man who worked at a dialysis office in central Phoenix drowned on July 20 while cleaning a salt-water tank, according to a report from myFOXPhoenix.com.

The news report doesn’t divulge too many details, but it said he was cleaning a water tank used for patients, and “somehow fell into the tub.”

Firefighters on the scene were speculating that the dialysis worker was either electrocuted when he fell into the salt-water tank or he may have had a medical condition that may have exacerbated the situation and led to the drowning.

According to the report, police are investigating the drowning and the victim has yet to be identified.

It’s no secret that healthcare workers, especially those working in kidney disease, are vulnerable to injuries on the job.  “Over the past decade, the rates of occupational injury to healthcare workers (HCWs) have continued to rise,” according to a Jan. 2009 article RBT published about occupational hazards in healthcare. “From occupational hazards like communicable diseases, sharps injuries, infectious-fluid splashes, latex allergies, back injuries to violence and stress—healthcare staff members are constantly at risk.”

Those injury risks are well documented and healthcare does its best to try and prevent them. However, as the incident in Phoenix shows, accidents can come in many ways, shapes and forms. It may seem unfathomable that someone working in a city center could fall into a water tank and drown, but this unfortunate event underscores the need for constant vigilance when it comes to safety of healthcare workers.