Suspicious fumes hospitalize 14 workers

Employees of a Spring Hill rehabilitation center report problems linked to a textured coating applied to a wall.

[Times photo: Kevin White] An emergency worker assists a woman as she leaves the Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Center in Spring Hill Wednesday morning in an incident that forced area hospitals to declare a minor disaster alert. Fourteen people were taken to hospitals after breathing fumes from a spray wall texture.

By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 4, 2002

SPRING HILL -- Noxious fumes sent 14 employees of a Spring Hill rehabilitation center to three area hospitals with breathing problems and nausea Wednesday in an incident that caused hospitals to declare a minor disaster alert.

Turned out that most everyone was fine.

By late afternoon, 12 employees had been sent home and two remained in Spring Hill Regional Hospital for monitoring, said county spokeswoman Brenda Frazier. She said both appeared to have a history of respiratory problems and were expected to be okay.

Frazier said an employee of the Spring Hill Health and Rehabilitation Center off Cortez Boulevard was coating the walls with a spray texture early Wednesday when the fumes began to bother staff members.

They called firefighters at 8:15 a.m. About 24 elderly residents were evacuated from their wing and taken to a dining room to play bingo and watch television while the air cleared. None of the 117 residents in the center was impacted because their rooms have separate ventilation systems, Frazier said.

[Times photo: Kevin White] Some of the employees of the center were treated at the scene before being transported to local hospitals. By late afternoon, two employees remained hospitalized, while 12 had been released.

Firefighters arrived on scene at 8:22 a.m. and Emergency Management officers monitored the air and helped determine what chemicals the employees had been exposed to.

After several hours, the air tested clear and patients were allowed back in their rooms, Frazier said.

Dr. R. Joseph Paquette, director of the emergency room at Spring Hill Regional Hospital, said he received a call early Wednesday asking how many patients he could take, and he said 10. The hospital activated its disaster plan, calling an extra four nurses to the ER, where they set up a command center.

Paquette said they received three patients.

"I was struck by how very well it all went," Paquette said. "Every agency at every level appeared to execute its duties appropriately."

Paquette said before he received a patient, other hospitals who were treating the employees called to inform him of their symptoms and conditions, and he also received a call from state Poison Control.

He credited a recent county disaster drill as helping the event unfold smoothly.

-- Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.

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