Blue powder closes hospital ER
Hospital Safety Connection, November 10, 2004
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Connection!
A patient's exposure to a mysterious blue powder shut down a Greenville (SC) hospital's emergency room (ER) this week, Fox News South Carolina reported.
While the blue powder turned out to be neither toxic nor infectious, it took more than nine hours before the ER reopened.
When UPS employee Pete Bartholomew handled a package that leaked blue powder, his chest tightened and his face turned blue. The UPS safety team rushed him to the hospital.
"Nurses quickly sequestered him because he didn't know what the substance was," Marty Lutz, MD, told Fox. "We restricted access in and out of the emergency department."
Bartholomew suffered an allergic reaction to what turned out to be a commercial chemical dye.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Connection!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Learn Life Safety Code tips and interpretations for healthcare facilities with this in-depth monthly resource.
-
Hospital Safety Connection
Stay on top of hospital safety requirements and best practices with our free, fast-paced weekly update.
-
Administering Your OSHA Program
This course will help an employee new to the role of OSHA safety officer. It gives an overview of OSHA requirements and...
-
Medical OSHA Manual Combo
Get into compliance with Quality America's OSHA Safety Program Manual and stay in compliance with OSHA Watch Newsletter...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Q&A: Coding for dry skin due to cold weather
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- Q&A: Coding for sepsis when other conditions are present
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- HIPAA Q&A: TPO disclosures to a business associate
- Q&A: Coding for dry skin due to cold weather
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- 2012 CPT code changes for ASCs: Shoulder and knee scopes and pain management
- Searched