Anaheim : Gas Leak at Hospital Possibly False Alarm

A reported leak of toxic gas at Anaheim General Hospital, which prompted the evacuation Tuesday of 37 patients and 100 workers, may have been a false alarm, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The sterilizing machine that supposedly emitted a hissing sound was examined late Tuesday by the firm that maintains the equipment and found to be “in perfect working order,” said Sally Chaiten, in charge of public relations for Anaheim General.

Chaiten said inspectors could find “no leaks in the machine,” which is used to sterilize medical equipment in a supply area about 50 feet from the nearest patient areas. The inspectors “tried and could not even re-create the hissing sound,” she added.

The gas that was believed to have been leaking was a mixture of ethylene oxide and chlorodifluoromethane, which is piped to a pair of small ovens called autoclaves in which the surgical equipment is sterilized.

“You bet that stuff would have been dangerous” if it had leaked, Anaheim Fire Marshal Mike Doty said Wednesday.

Stanton firefighters had turned off the valves by the time the county’s hazardous materials team arrived, “so whatever gas that might have been there may have dissipated,” Doty said.

Linda Dohrman, 44, of Buena Park, who was undergoing minor surgery in an operating room next to the supply area when the evacuation was called, suffered no signs of exposure to the gas, Chaiten said.