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Hazmat spill result of a job half-done; or, what would HANYS do?

Emergency Management Alert, November 20, 2007

This month a worker at a Ravenna, OH hospital accidentally knocked over a vial of mercury while cleaning. The substance was collected when the hospital drained the mercury out of its old blood pressure machines several years ago and placed it in a maintenance area to be disposed of. For whatever reason, the vial was never removed.

The spill involved less than two ounces of mercury, but because the area affected was larger than 50 square ft, hospital officials were obligated to contact the Ravenna Fire Department as well as the Portage County hazmat team, which then called in Ohio EPA. Officials closed off the air-handling unit serving the affected area and turned up the temperature in the maintenance area because mercury turns into a vapor when cooled.

Questions missing from the story: Why was the vial never removed? Could training have helped?

Only hospital officials can answer the first question. As for the second, we'll toss it to the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), which will present a train-the-trainer program December 11. It's called "Hospital Hazardous Materials Incident Commander Training," and it will be held at HANYS' offices in Rensselaer, NY.

HANYS is collaborating with EnMagine, Inc., to present the eight-hour session,which it says not only meets but exceeds the requirements for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response Standard. Individuals who may need to assume a position of command at a hospital hazardous materials incident are encouraged to attend. Participants need to have previously taken Hazardous Materials First Responder/Receiver Operations Level training (from any source). Students should be familiar with the Hospital Incident Command System and the National Incident Management System.

For more information, contact Christopher Smith, Manager, Emergency and Trauma Initiatives, at (518) 431-7769 or at csmith@hanys.org.

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