Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

[T. Modesto,PhD]

Wednesday October 11, 2006
Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=d...51&format=html

PLEASE NOTE THAT NO DETAILED INFORMATION ON HEALTH SITUATION HAS BEEN OBTAINED REGARDING THIS SITUATION. FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED ON THIS SITE WHEN AVAILABLE.


What appeared to be the makings of a dangerous outbreak in downtown Hagerstown ended with two people taken to the hospital with flu-like symptoms, and officials unable to say why the situation escalated so drastically. Thirteen African refugees and three other residents were evacuated from (address removed) St. wearing green masks and latex gloves Wednesday afternoon. Fire Department Chief Gary Hawbaker said doctors found nothing wrong with the residents, most of whom were African refugees. Traffic was tied up in downtown Hagerstown for several hours during the quarantine. See Thursday?s editions of The Morning Herald and The Daily Mail for the full story.

[hawkeye]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

Feared hazmat situation closes street in downtown Hagerstown
By KASEY JONES, The Associated Press
Oct 11, 2006 10:33 PM (44 mins ago)
Current rank: # 134 of 4,172 articles
BALTIMORE - Two ill women and a language barrier closed a block in downtown Hagerstown in western Maryland Wednesday, as officials, fearing a hazmat incident, exercised an abundance of caution.

With rescue workers in full hazmat gear, including breathing tanks, and victims in surgical masks and gloves being wheeled or escorted into a decontamination tent, the scene in the first block of Franklin Street looked like a well-rehearsed response to a terrorist attack.

"We erred on the side of caution," Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey said Wednesday night. "In this day and age, we'd rather be careful."

Two people were sent to Washington County Hospital as a precaution, the health care facility said.

Bruchey said the incident began Wednesday afternoon when a resident of the apartments of (address removed) St. approached a police officer who was at the building on an unrelated matter. The resident and 16 others who live in the building are refugees from Somalia, the mayor said, and spoke little English.

The officer went to the apartment the resident directed him to and found a woman and a 13-year-old girl violently ill from flu-like symptoms, Bruchey said. Because the residents were unable to tell the officer why they were sick, the officer summoned help.

"We called in some medical units, and the health department was notified. Precautions were taken," Bruchey said.

Firefighters, fearing an environmental contaminant, donned hazmat gear and assisted the 17 residents from the building, which also houses business offices.

Two people were sent to Washington County Hospital as a precaution, the health care facility said. The other 15 residents did not display any flu-like symptoms and were allowed to return to their apartments, Bruchey said.

The incident shut down one block for two and a half hours.

"It was great practice for our response people," Bruchey said. "They did a wonderful job, acted accordingly, followed protocol and it came out positive."

[T. Modesto,PhD]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

Thank you Hawkeye great article and work!!
TM

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

Feared hazmat situation closes street in downtown Hagerstown
http://www.examiner.com/a-338718~Feared_hazmat_situation_closes_street_in_do wntown_Hagerstown.html

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td align="right" width="75">44 mins ago</td><td width="15"> </td><td> Feared hazmat situation closes street in downtown Hagerstown

</td></tr><tr><td align="right" width="75">2 hrs 48 ago</td><td width="15"> </td><td>Apparent hazmat situation closes streets in downtown Hagerstown</td></tr> </tbody></table>

By KASEY JONES, The Associated Press
Oct 11, 2006 10:33 PM (44 mins ago)

BALTIMORE - Two ill women and a language barrier closed a block in downtown Hagerstown in western Maryland Wednesday, as officials, fearing a hazmat incident, exercised an abundance of caution.

With rescue workers in full hazmat gear, including breathing tanks, and victims in surgical masks and gloves being wheeled or escorted into a decontamination tent, the scene in the first block of Franklin Street looked like a well-rehearsed response to a terrorist attack.

"We erred on the side of caution," Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey said Wednesday night. "In this day and age, we'd rather be careful."

Two people were sent to Washington County Hospital as a precaution, the health care facility said.

Bruchey said the incident began Wednesday afternoon when a resident of the apartments of ****** Franklin St. approached a police officer who was at the building on an unrelated matter. The resident and 16 others who live in the building are refugees from Somalia, the mayor said, and spoke little English.

The officer went to the apartment the resident directed him to and found a woman and a 13-year-old girl violently ill from flu-like symptoms, Bruchey said.

Because the residents were unable to tell the officer why they were sick, the officer summoned help.

"We called in some medical units, and the health department was notified. Precautions were taken," Bruchey said.

Firefighters, fearing an environmental contaminant, donned hazmat gear and assisted the 17 residents from the building, which also houses business offices.

Two people were sent to Washington County Hospital as a precaution, the health care facility said.

The other 15 residents did not display any flu-like symptoms and were allowed to return to their apartments, Bruchey said.

The incident shut down one block for two and a half hours.

"It was great practice for our response people," Bruchey said. "They did a wonderful job, acted accordingly, followed protocol and it came out positive."

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

I strongly suspect this is a poisoning incident. Toxic compounds or contaminated building materials or food are more likely than influenza.

[hawkeye]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

Quarantine of downtown Hagerstown building ends

By ERIN CUNNINGHAM erinc@herald-mail.com

What appeared to be the makings of a dangerous outbreak in downtown Hagerstown ended with two people taken to the hospital with an unknown illness, and officials unable to say why the situation escalated so quickly.

Thirteen African refugees and three other residents were evacuated from (address removed) St. wearing green masks and latex gloves Wednesday afternoon. Officials said they were rumored to be suffering from an unknown illness, but that ultimately they believed it was a false alarm.

The confusion might have been caused by a language barrier ? a problem that was solved when an interpreter arrived on the scene.

The residents were evaluated in two large yellow decontamination tents by Washington County Health Department officials. Fire Department Chief Gary Hawbaker said doctors found nothing wrong with the residents.

Through the interpreter, the refugees said they were not sick, Hawbaker said.

After they were evaluated, two were taken to the hospital, and the others returned to the apartment building.

Hospital officials were unable to provide the patients? conditions late Wednesday.

The call

Hawbaker said officials initially were called to the building, which has four apartments, for a report of several people sick with an unknown illness. They were vomiting and were nauseous, he said.

Three Hagerstown Police Department officers who responded were considered ?contaminated,? Hawbaker said. They were evaluated at the scene by health professionals.

he apartment building, near the U.S. Post Office, was quickly quarantined, and residents inside were given masks.

Emergency personnel wearing protective suits checked the building for chemicals, such as carbon monoxide, Hawbaker said. None were found.

Craig Harshman, who manages the apartment building, said a language barrier between the residents in the building and police was to blame for escalating the situation.

He said African refugees living on West Washington Street were concerned about one of the residents living in the building at (address removed) St. That refugee contacted police and said the woman was sick.

The woman, Harshman said, was about two months pregnant and suffering from morning sickness.

When police arrived at the building, they saw the woman vomiting, and were told that people in the building all had been sick recently, most with what were called flu-like symptoms, he said.

Other emergency personnel were called to the building, and a quarantine was ordered due to what was believed to be an outbreak of an unknown illness.

The sickness

The group of refugees included mostly women and several young children. One of them had to be taken from the upstairs apartments in a type of chair carried by emergency personnel.

The refugees were part of a group brought to Hagerstown by the Virginia Council of Churches, Harshman said. He said there are at least 250 refugees living in the area.

He said at least one of the refugees at (address removed) St., had come in contact with sick children at a Salem Avenue home. He said that person might have been baby-sitting the children, who also were said to have suffered from vomiting and nausea.

Hawbaker said that no signs of illness were found during an evaluation by Washington County Health Department officials.

He said the refugees said through the interpreter that they were not sick, but offered no explanation for why they were believed to have been sick initially.

After a second evaluation by health officials, two of the refugees were taken to Washington County Hospital. Officials said they had ?flu-like? symptoms.

Hawbaker said it would be the residents? decision whether or not to go to the hospital.

Officials declined to say what they believed caused the situation to escalate. They also would not comment on what specific illness they thought those taken in the ambulance suffered from.

The hospital

Hawbaker originally said all of the refugees were going to be taken to Washington County Hospital and put into sealed rooms. But after the health evaluations, that was not necessary.

Hospital spokeswoman Maureen Theriault said hospital officials were told they would need to start a decontamination procedure for the refugees. She said that about 8 p.m., officials were told to stand down from that procedure.

?They came in as emergency room patients,? she said. ?We were told there were no special concerns.?

Late Wednesday, Theriault said she did not have information about the patients, including their conditions and why they were taken to the hospital.

Washington County Health Department Spokesman Rod MacRae said health department officials were at the scene, but that he had no more information.

MacRae said he wasn?t at the site and that he hadn?t heard back from health officials who were there.

He said Hawbaker was in charge of releasing information about the incident.

Theriault said the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene was controlling the scene. She also said Hawbaker was the local contact for information.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency representative and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention representative both said they did not have any information about a quarantine situation in Hagerstown, but both said they would look into it.

Staff writer Tara Reilly contributed to this story.

[sharon sanders]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

I just talked to the hospital supervisor who is on this shift. She told me that they do not know what the patients are suffering from, but that they are not in quarantine in the hospital.

FluTrackers will call back in the morning to follow-up.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

Thank you F1, it is true that those F1 (Formula 1) are fast.

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

http://www.nbc25.com/main/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3596

*News : Hazmat Scare Turns Out to be False Alarm
Posted by sabraham on 2006/10/11 17:01:42 (2906 reads)


Updated at 11:35 p.m. on 10/11/2006
HAGERSTOWN, MD- There were tense moments in downtown after Hazmat teams were called to a nearby apartment building.


Miscommunication between some tenants and local law enforcement ultimately led to an emergency response that turned out to be a false alarm.

?We?ve determined that there's no public health threat. There's no public health emergency. There's follow-up that needs to be coordinated with the local health department and the state health department,? said Earl Stoner, Washington County Health Department.

Residents said a local police officer found a woman suffering from morning sickness inside an apartment building.

?The only thing I saw was when he came in. I saw the woman laying there and I heard her throwing up,? said Shelley Radcliff, resident in the apartment.

There was miscommunication between local law enforcement and the 16 residents in the building because of a language barrier. The residents were quarantined and then escorted into tents for evaluation.

Firefighters inspected the building while health officials inspected the residents, but nobody had any type of infectious illness.

?There's no infectious diseases of any kind. This was just blown out of proportion largely to the fact that there was a language barrier,? said Serhiy Dutchak, Virginia Council of Churches.

Serhiy said the pregnant woman is a refugee from Burundi. She is one of 12 African refugees living in the apartment supported by Dutchak's church group. He said he couldn't stop the rumors from flying.

?Some of the other residents in the building mentioned to the police department that, oh, everybody out here is sick, which really made it a big mess,? said Dutchak.

Nearby residents and workers were told to stay inside until officials could figure out the problem.

?We here at Mass Appeal were kind of alarmed at what was going on because it's our neighborhood and our community. We don't want people getting sick and contagious, spreading germs. We were just really concerned about that,? said Kah Jual, who works nearby.

None of the residents required medical attention. However, the woman who apparently caused the hazmat scare voluntarily admitted herself and her daughter into the hospital for further examinations.

Hospital staff said they were prepared for the worst.

?We were prepared for an emergency if it had occurred, but we didn't actually need to use it,? said Maureen Theriault, Washington County Hospital.

Reported by Amie McLain

[hawkeye]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

Photos:



Emergency personnel responded to a call at **** W. Franklin St. Wednesday evening. The apartment building, which houses some refugees from Africa, was evacuated.
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By Ric Dugan/Staff Photographer
Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith, left, and other officers wear masks while waiting outside **** W. Franklin St.
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By Ric Dugan/Staff Photographer

A woman is taken to a waiting ambulance Wednesday evening after emergency personnel responded to a call at **** W. Franklin St.

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By Erick Gibson/Staff Photographer

Residents of ***** W. Franklin St. leave the building Wednesday evening under the supervision of emergency personnel in protective suits. Officials said resdients were rumored to be suffering from an unknown illness, but that ultimately they believed it was a false alarm.

[Niko]

Re: Downtown Hagerstown building quarantined

The quick actions of the police officer and other responding personnel should be commended.

My one BIG concern is that FEMA and the CDC seemed to be unaware of the quarantine. It is possible that someone in those departments may have been alerted and the contact made by the reporter just wasn't aware at the time. If indeed the CDC was not alerted, that is one hole that needs fixing, IMO. Some dept. (presumedly the CDC in the USA) needs to be the clearinghouse to monitor this type of incident.

Theriault said the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene was controlling the scene. She also said Hawbaker was the local contact for information.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency representative and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention representative both said they did not have any information about a quarantine situation in Hagerstown, but both said they would look into it.

Thankfully, all appears to be well in Hagerstown!!!