Emergency Room Workers Overcome by Fumes

The emergency room at Northridge Hospital Medical Center was closed for an hour Wednesday after fumes coming from a patient who tried to kill himself by drinking poisonous chemicals made some of the staff members sick, authorities said.

The unidentified 43-year-old man was brought to the hospital from his home in the 8400 block of Corbin Ave about 2:30 p.m., said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The man, who apparently had intentionally swallowed poisonous materials--including rat poison and malathion--vomited in the ambulance and in the emergency room, Humphrey said.

A hazardous materials team from the Fire Department was dispatched to the hospital when 10 emergency room employees working around the man began to complain of light-headedness, apparently caused by fumes coming from the poisoned patient, Humphrey said.

The man was moved out of the hospital and into an ambulance for a few minutes while the emergency room staff members continued to take care of the other patients, he said.

The emergency room was closed as a precautionary measure for about an hour until it was ventilated and the hazardous materials team determined that the fumes no longer posed a threat, said Toshia Johnson, the hospital’s spokeswoman.

Ambulance traffic was diverted to other hospitals, Humphrey said, until the emergency room reopened at about 6 p.m.

“We were very pleased to come to assist them,” Humphrey said.

The poisoned man was in stable condition, he said.