The Whipped Cream Canister Explosion On '9-1-1' Actually Happened To French Blogger

The Season 3 episode of “9-1-1” titled “The One That Got Away” touched on a very real, and surprisingly common, kitchen safety hazard that claimed the life of a fitness blogger in 2017. 

The episode opens with the 118 responding to a building fire where Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) make a daring rooftop rescue of a deaf woman. Meanwhile, Hen (Aisha Hinds) speculates that a man they took out of the building prior may be suffering from a potentially life-threatening thyroid issue. She warns doctors at the hospital but he dies anyway. 

As a result, she has something to prove when they respond to a call where a contestant on a cooking show shook up a nitrous oxide-powered whipped cream canister that then exploded. Shrapnel goes everywhere, including into his chest and face. Hen believes he won’t survive the ambulance ride to the hospital and does a dangerous procedure that Chimney (Kenneth Choi) doesn’t approve of. 

"That's a job for a surgeon, Hen," he says.

Fortunately, Hen does her job well and the man is saved. 

Unfortunately, not everyone who suffers a whipped cream canister accident is so lucky. In 2017, popular French fitness blogger Rebecca Burger died at age 33 when the canister she was using exploded in her hand. Pieces hit her chest, causing a heart attack, according to "The Guardian." She was taken to the hospital but died the following day of her injuries.

Her family posted a message to her 55,000 Facebook and 154,000 Instagram followers explaining what happened and warning them not to use similar products in their kitchen, according to "The Washington Post."

The BBC reports a French consumer group warned readers for years about faulty connectors on the gas capsules of these canisters that cause them to break and expel at a high speed. Several people have experienced injuries from this kind of malfunction such as broken teeth, tinnitus, multiple fractures, and, in one case, the loss of an eye. Eventually, the government got involved and issued a warning about potentially faulty canisters. 

Fortunately for the members of the 118, they didn’t have to deal with the tragedy of losing a patient. In fact, when Hen returns to the station the next day, she’s greeted with a fake lab coat and the applause of her fellow firefighters for taking a risk and doing the daring medical procedure well.