Cleaning chemical spill causes HealthCare Partners evacuation

Patients and staff at HealthCare Partners on East Calvada Boulevard were evacuated on Tuesday morning following an accidental chemical spill just after 10:30 a.m.

Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services Chief Scott Lewis said crews were dispatched to the facility after a gallon of what’s known as MetriCide was accidentally spilled on the floor.

The chemical is a high-level disinfectant used to clean hospital surgical utensils and can cause irritation in the lungs, eyes and throat.

“Upon arrival, we met with staff outside the building, who informed us that they had an approximate one gallon spill of liquid MetriCide,” Lewis said. “They were getting complaints about an odor issue, along with irritation to the airway with some individuals. We had one direct contact with a splash of the chemical.”

Lewis said the entire facility was evacuated as a precautionary measure, while a triage-area was established on the back side of the building near the loading docks.

“We assigned an EMS group supervisor and he managed the triage and all of the patients,” Lewis said. “It then went over to a transportation side where we transported those who required it from the facility.”

Lewis also said a total of 38 patients were assessed at the site, while three were transported to Desert View Hospital due to exposure-related issues. They were treated and released.

One person was transported due to chest pain.

“We had made contact with Desert View Hospital and notified them of the number of potential patients, so we worked very closely with them on any issues related to decontamination and things along those lines,” he said. “We even had assistance from Mercy Air-21, which is located directly next door and they came out and assisted us in evaluating the patients. Only one patient required actual decontamination and it was on the side of Health Care Partners.”

While mitigating the spill, and evacuating and transporting patients, Lewis said his crews were also managing other 911 service calls throughout the community.

“There was no interruption of service but there were slight delays in two instances, but we found that those two instances were not an issue,” he said. “I believe it was a total of four or five 911 calls during that same time.”

Additionally, Lewis said that all agencies were equipped to safely handle the situation, which continued for several hours.

“Desert View Hospital was able to handle everything and HealthCare Partners was a tremendous help to us,” he said. “They were very cooperative and took good steps. There was good communication all around in the early stages. A professional cleaning crew will thoroughly go through that room. Even though all of the product has been picked up, it is still a little odorous.”

The facility was still closed as of 4 p.m. Tuesday as clean up continued.

Fire crews used natural ventilation as well as their own ventilation units to assist in that effort.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com.

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