Chemical fumes injure 3 at Wabash Valley Surgery Center inTerre Haute, Indiana

[Ian David]

GLIDE Number: CH-20070721-12455-USA
Date / time: 21/07/2007 08:44:07
Event: Chemical Accident
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of Indiana
City: Terre Haute
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: 3 persons
Damage level: Minor

Description:

Three people sought emergency medical care Friday after toxic chemical fumes forced an evacuation of the Wabash Valley Surgery Center in Terre Haute, Union Hospital officials said.The three people, who were all treated and released from Union Hospital’s emergency room, complained of symptoms such as nausea, headache and respiratory distress, said Lorrie Heber, a spokeswoman for Union Hospital Health Group.

People in the surgery center, which is an outpatient medical facility on the Union Hospital campus on North Seventh Street, first began noticing a highly offensive odor around 7 a.m. Friday, Heber said.Union Hospital maintenance personnel were called to the building to evaluate the situation, Heber said. After arriving in the building, the maintenance personnel ordered an evacuation around 8 a.m., Heber said.

“They did a good job getting the people evacuated,” said Jeff Fisher, public information officer for the Terre Haute Fire Department and a member of Task Force Seven, an emergency response team that also responded to the incident.A nurse at the surgery center reported the chemical smell to authorities, Fisher said.The incident occurred after fumes from a corrosive, flammable and toxic cleaning fluid called Tri-Act 2813 got into the 28,000-square-foot building’s air ducts when a mechanism designed to clean the boiler system malfunctioned, Fisher said.Instead of releasing half a gallon of the cleaner into the boiler, the malfunctioning device allowed four gallons of the cleaner to enter the boiler, Fisher said. “The got into the air-conditioning duct. That’s how it spread into the building,” he said.One patient at the surgery center had just completed a surgical procedure when the evacuation order came, Heber said. That patient was taken to nearby Union Hospital for surgical recovery, she said.It is not known whether the surgery center will be open on Monday, Heber said, adding that Union Hospital staff wearing protective gear will do an extensive cleaning of the building over the weekend.Fire Department and Indiana Department of Environmental Management officials must give their approval before the building can be reopened, Heber said.

The Wabash Valley Surgery Center is a part of the Union Hospital Health Group.Over the weekend, hospital officials will inform patients with surgeries scheduled for Monday if their surgeries need to be rescheduled, Heber said.“We are so thankful that there was not a worse outcome in terms of the number of people affected by this,” Heber said. “Everyone responded really well to this event,” she said.

More:
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=12455