What would you do.......

[dfdex1]

Your dept. gets a call to the local Wal-Mart for a unknown problem . You walk into the managers office and find a clerk throwing up and extremely sick and pale.
A fellow store clerk informed you that he was mopping up in the pesticide aisle and that is where he became very sick. She also says that she felt very naushes going over to him to see if he felt ok.
The store has not been evacuated yet.
You and 2 other firefighters put on your air packs and walk over to the pestside aisle you see a 5 gallon bucket of greenish brown dirty water,a empty 1 gallon ammonia bottle and the floor is still dirty also a "white fizz "is comeing from the bucket,the floor and the mop.


So tell me what you would do and what you think happend.

-dfd

p.s you glowworms probally picked up on it but let us explorers try to get a answer.

[explr985]

Having no expirence on this BUT,

I would evacuate store, call for HAZ-MAT, pull back and start setting up for a decon. Then sit by the truck while HAZ-MAT came.

[Engine58]

Well...#1 I would call for hazmat ASAP, Evac the store, call in multiple BLS units..and have 2 ALS units dispatched also. Next I would get some additional apparatus. After the store is mostly evacuated I'd have some guys pack up and do a search to make sure no one is hiding or still in the building. as an EMT I would Start the PT on High FLow O2 15lpm Via Non Rebreather.Also would start the female on High Flow O2 and get sets of vitals on both of them. I would call in an ALS unit for the one guy just in case. WHat I THINK happened...is the bottle of ammonia was mixed with bleach or some type of chemical. But something was definatley mixed with the ammonia..

[Irons6789]

Pull the fire alarm at the store and just dump the building if possible. And have the dispatchers start out EMS and Hazmat if they havent been assigned already.

[VolFFJohn]

I would have to say what happen is that the cleaner in the mop water and the ammonia mixed forming a toxic gas. dfdex1 please email me with the rest of the story [email protected] thanks

[Engine58]

BLS-Basic Life Support (First Responders,EMT-B's etc) ALS-Advanced Life Support ( Paramedics)

[rescuepimp911]

BLS---EMTS
ALS---PARAMEDICS


First, pullling the alarm WONT be a good idea, as it will cause Panic. So "Packing up", quarentineing the area, and physiclally evacuting would be a better idea, In myeyes..... Im just another vollie,, The higher archcey would do different..

[BLSboy]

QUARANTINE EVERY ONE!!!!!!!!! after evac, everyone that was in, around or near the store (including main FFs) MUST be decontamanitated, b/c after 9-11 " 99% of these calls are bogus, but im not gonna let that 1% wipe out the entire eastern seaboard" Of. Boscorelli(3rd Watch). Then, end in the glowworms

[Quigger]

I argee with the other posts.

[rescuepimp911]

Not quareinteen EVERYONE... Quarinteen that Asile and asiles around it... So during evac noone decides to take a shortcut down that area, or any surrounding asiles

[firefighterox]

i would have HAZ-MAT called,shut down the A/C or Heating (to try and slow the spread of the gas), and have the two clerks immediatly put on 02 and possible start and IV on the clerk that was cleaning, have several BLS and a few ALS units respond, i would have ff's go in evac, and quarentine the area for a 4 or 5 aisle radius, anybody found within that area would have to be checked out by EMS before leaving. did the ammonia bottle belong in that isle or was it used as a cleaning solution. if it was used as a cleaning solution i would say it probably mixed with some leaked pesticides and made a toxic gas, and if it belonged there it may have mixed with the bleach water(commonly used cleaning solution) and created mustard gas (i believe that is the by-product of chlorine and ammonia but i may be thinking of something else). is this an actual run or made up?

[dfdex1]

Something similar has happend but this is completely made up.

[TillerMan25]

You only "Quarantine" people who are exposed to communicable bacterium, viruses or anything that can kill in large numbers or spread rapidly over a large area. I would assume in the pseticide aisle of a local Wal-Mart that the product is probably cleaning solution that was mixed either too rich or with something that was not compatible and you have a reaction.

#1. Call for the Hazardous Materials Team.

#2. Evacuate the store in a calm manner...Panicking does no one any good and will cause more harm than good.

#3. Cordon off the immediate area around the aisle to prevent any stragglers or Non Haz-Mat personnel from being exposed to the solution. Use Fire line tape or even Shopping carts if you feel the need and want to play with the carts. LOL

#4. If possible, shut of the HVAC or Ventilation system in the building to prevent the Vapors from being sent throughout the store or surrounding/attached stores.

#5. Keep your SCBA and FULL turnout gear on and protect the area until HM arrives.

It is also a good Idea to set up an Incident Command and maintain it until releived by a higher officer. If possible, have the sotre manager bring copies of the MSDS sheets for the Store. Commercial cleaning solutions must have an Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) if a business is using them. They will tell you everything you need to know about the chemical and will be useful tot he HM Team when they arrive.

Hope some of that helped, usually I steer clear of the HazMat stuff and let the guys in the funny suits handle it....

[bfd5229]

CORRECTION

BLS---EMTS ALS--PARAMEDICS

close but not true..some states still have EMT-I...an EMT-I is considerd an ALS EMT but there not a paramedic

BLS--
First Responder
EMT-B

ALS--
EMT-T
EMT-P (Paramedic)

[MVFD81]

I would

Evacuate the store immediately, get Haz-mat to come sheck it out.