On Thursday, January 25th 2007, St. Lucie Medical Center (SLMC) received a call at 9:50 a.m. that there was a potential Hazardous Material exposure at St. Anastasia School and was notified by Emergency Medical Services personnel that it would be getting students from the school who had been exposed to an unknown substance. Based on this information and not knowing exactly how many students it was going to receive, SLMC administrators decided at 10:05 to call a Code Orange (Haz Mat). A few minutes later EMS called with additional information stating that up to 40 people had been exposed and asked the hospital how many patients it could handle. After careful assessment, SLMC notified EMS that it could safely take up to 15 patients. By the end of the day, SLMC treated a total of 12 students and 1 faculty member.
Approximately six members of the hospital haz-mat team immediately reported to the decontamination shower area to help arriving patients. Upon arrival, those patients who had been exposed to the potentially harmful substance were taken to the decontamination room attached to the ER. The hospital haz-mat team explained to the patients how the decontaminating process worked and answered any questions that they had. The remaining ER staff set up the ER fast-track area as the treatment area and all students who had been exposed were treated in this area. The outpatient lobby was used as the receiving area for family and media.
Once SLMC received word that no additional students/faculty needed medical attention, the decision was made at noon that same day to call an all clear.
