Couple quarantined during powder scare

June 24, 2008 - 02:50

By Kristen Calis

AJAX -- A trip to the emergency room turned into a long, frightening night for two Ajax residents following last week's powder scare at Pickering City Hall.

Ian Taylor dialed 911 at about 3:45 p.m. Monday, June 16 when his girlfriend, Barb Post, became very ill and was "throwing up violently." Pickering Fire Services was first on the scene and looked after Ms. Post, who ended up having a kidney stone, inside her home. But when they were in the ambulance to transfer her to Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering hospital, the couple was put into quarantine, since the ambulance was previously on the scene at Pickering City Hall, where it could have come into contact with an unknown powder sent to the City and fears of anthrax were swirling. The couple then had to wait for another ambulance to take them to the hospital, and once it arrived, it sat in front of the emergency room for about two-and-a-half hours.

"It was an experience, to say the least," Mr. Taylor said.

The wait was for a negative pressure room at the hospital, where both were outfitted with masks. They waited at the hospital until about 8 p.m., when the substance was deemed non-hazardous. Staff periodically gave Ms. Post painkillers and took her blood pressure, but no machines could be used because of possible contamination. Tricia Root, manager of infection control at RVHS, explained a negative pressure room sucks air in from the hallway which then goes through a filter and is released to the outside.

"That way whatever they had could not be circulated through the emergency department," she said.

As for the two-and-a-half hour wait, Ms. Root said they had to get direction from Health Canada and the haz-mat team.

"This is a very rare situation where they were querying anthrax," she said.

Mr. Taylor was in a severe car accident about a year ago, so he has troubles with his back, making his quarantine stay uncomfortable. The couple did not leave the hospital until about 12:10 a.m. because Ms. Post had to be treated after being released from quarantine.

Durham health department spokeswoman Glendene Collins confirmed the incident.

"While it was at the scene, there were patients from that incident (at Pickering City Hall) placed in the ambulance," she said, stressing the powder was non-toxic.

The three paramedics in the ambulance were placed in quarantine at Pickering City Hall.

"We do take this incident very seriously and patient safety is a priority for us, and we continue to investigate," she said.

The decontamination process is the responsibility of Pickering Fire Services. Deputy chief Simon Almond explained the ambulance was standing by doing routine monitoring at City Hall, and was sent out before the substance was determined possibly dangerous.

"Unfortunately between making the determination...they got redirected to a recall," he said.

Once the powder was deemed possibly dangerous, the ambulance was recalled immediately and brought to a decontamination facility, under care of Team-1 Environmental Services, Pickering's haz-mat team.

"We always err on the side of caution," Deputy Chief Almond said.

The EMS workers and the hospital staff were fantastic, Mr. Taylor said, but he thought the entire situation should have been avoided and hopes the incident sparks some changes.

"It wasn't anthrax, but next time it might be," he said.

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