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Chlorine and its Impact on an Emergency Department

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Adeline Ngo ,
R. Ponampalam ,
Mark Leong  and
Lim Swee Han
Adeline Ngo*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singhealth, Singapore
R. Ponampalam
Affiliation:
Director, Drug and Poison Information Centre, Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singhealth, Singapore
Mark Leong
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singhealth, Singapore
Lim Swee Han
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singhealth, Singapore
*
Adeline Ngo Department of Emergency MedicineSingapore General HospitalOutram Road, Singapore 169608 E-mail: Adeline_ngo@singhealth.com.sg, gaensy@sgh.com.sg
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Abstract

Introduction:

An incident involving the release of chlorine gas from the pump room at a local swimming pool resulted in 54 patients seeking treatment in the emergency departments (EDs) of two local, tertiary-level hospitals in Singapore. The hospital hazardous materials (HAZMAT) disaster plan was activated. This report describes how one of the EDs organized in response to the disaster.

Event:

Of the 54 people seeking treatment, 36 were treated in the ED at the Singapore General Hospital. The patients were decontaminated at shower facilities prior to entering the ED. The ED was reorganized to cope with existing patients, as well as the large influx of patients from the event site. A protocol was established in coordination with the local drug and poison information center to manage the patients who suffered from chlorine inhalation. Most patients were observed in the ED and subsequently discharged.Outpatient review appointments were scheduled.

Injuries:

Acute respiratory symptoms were the most common symptoms. Four children and four adults were admitted to the hospital, and the other patients were discharged from the ED after observation. All of the chest xrays were normal on the day of the chlorine inhalation. There were no mortalities or significant morbidities, even up to six months after the incident.

Conclusions:

Although this chlorine HAZMAT incident did not cause severe injuries, and only a limited number of persons required admission to the hospital, some valuable lessons were learned.

Keywords

chlorine gasemergency departmentshazardous materials
Type
Case Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 136 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2007

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