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Hospital bomb scare forces ER evacuation

Hospital Safety Connection, June 15, 2004

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A New Orleans hospital evacuated part of its emergency room and closed a street for nearly three hours May 31 after a patient brought in what authorities believed was an explosive device, the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reports.

After investigating, the New Orleans police determined that the plastic Powerade bottle the man brought in contained only chlorine. The chemical was released when the man, thinking the bottle contained a beverage, opened it.

The 32-year-old man arrived at Charity Hospital at about 8 a.m. with minor chemical burns to the face and lungs. He told authorities that when he opened the bottle, the contents burned him.

He brought the bottle with him so hospital staff could determine what burned him. But believing it was an explosive, the hospital alerted the police and fire departments, as well as the police explosive ordinance disposal unit.

Police blocked off a street near the hospital, but the emergency room remained open. About 13 walk-in patients were sent to another hospital campus for treatment until the situation was brought under control.

The bottle contained a swimming pool chlorine tablet that had been broken into small pieces, fire officials said. Because the chemical was so concentrated in the bottle, the fumes caused the man to become sick.

After authorities determined that the chemical was chlorine, they diluted it with water and threw the bottle in the trash.

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