Not dog related but serious warning

About 30 minutes ago we had a serious accident in our office involving water being heated in a microwave. A young lady who works in our computer services section removed a mug of water from the microwave and when she set it down on the counter the water literally exploded up into her face. The water erupted with such force it hit the ceiling of the kitched. The kitchen is near my desk so I heard her scream out in pain. There was one other co-worker in the kitchen at the time but he was not burned. I tore to the kitched and the young lady was leaning over the sink with her hands over her face in agony. We called 911 and then got her to hold an ice compress on her face to ease the pain and hopefully reduce any burn damage. She is now on the way to the emergency room.

I have heard about this happening and even saw a demonstration on the Myth Busters on TV.
The warning is to never heat pure water in a microwave without first placing a wooden spoon or someother microwave safe object in the water. The object will allow the water to heat and boil without building up to a super-heated state.

 

how awful, I hope she is okay, I havent heard of plain water exploding before, but have seen when I use certain ceramic cups they get too hot to touch,

thanks for the warning

 

I never heard of the risk. Also, I heat water in the micro-wave all the time. Give your co-worker our best wishes and hoping her injuries are minimal. No matter the severity of the burn, it has to be incredibly painful. A lot of people will most definitely take heed!

 

My officemate says that usually water has enough impurities so it won't do this. Did she get the water from a purified source? Just curious. I have never heard of this, so thanks for the warning!

 

We do have a filter on the water fountain. I did not see any bottled water around. Someone else mentioned that impurities in the water would prevent the superheating but it's better to be safe.
Here is a site with more info:
http://www.burnprevention.org/news.asp? ... 6583800524

 

Wow! Thanks for the warning...does it matter what kind of cup/mug the water is in??

 

Update,
My co-worker just returned from the emergency room and she is OK with no eye damage or blistering. We were all really worried about her eyes in particular as she has just undergone laser eye surgery and was told not to get water in her eyes, much less boiling water.