18 EMTs Treated for Exposure to Unknown Substance that Left 3 Others Dead

Safety at Work

Mountainair, NM (WorkersCompensation.com) – EMTs responding to a call in New Mexico were taken to the hospital for treatment after they fell ill from exposure to an unknown substance.

Officials in Mountainair, N.M., said the EMT were responding to a call where three of the four people in a home in east Albuquerque had died. The fourth was revived with Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, and taken to a hospital in Albuquerque for treatment. Officials suspected the dead were victims of drug overdoses.

As EMTs were responding, authorities said, more than a dozen were exposed to an unknown substance and began experiencing symptoms including nausea and dizziness. All 18 of the first responders were transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital where they were quarantined, treated and monitored. Two of the first responders were listed in serious condition on Wednesday night, Officer Wilson Silver with the New Mexico State Police said.

Mountainair fire and rescue personnel were being assisted by Albuquerque Fire Rescue Hazmat teams in the effort to identify the substance those involved had been exposed to.

“At this time, investigators believe the substance may be transmitted through contact and do not believe it to be airborne,” Silver said.

In a social media post, Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said all of the EMTs were released by Thursday evening, but that EMS Chief Josh Lewis, who had been the first to enter the residence during the call, was hospitalized overnight for observation. Nieto said Torrance County EMTs, as well as nurses at the UNM Hospital who came into contact with the individuals on scene, also experienced symptoms and were quarantined.

Nieto said the investigation into the substance is ongoing, but all indications point to narcotics as a factor in the incident. He added that there was no immediate threat to the public and that a perimeter had been set up around the house to keep anyone from coming in contact with the substance. A total of 25 people were exposed to the substance, officials said.

Officials have ruled out carbon monoxide and natural causes.

“It is a scary situation,” Xavier Romero, who lived near the house where the incident occurred, told KRQE. “It’s just awful. I never thought something like this [would] happen in Mountainair.”

The town’s law enforcement officers and first responders work every day to protect the community and respond to difficult situations, he said.

“But the reality is that addiction and substance abuse are issues affecting communities all across our state and nation,” Nieto said. “There is no simple or immediate solution. Lasting change requires family support, accountability, education, and most importantly, individuals who are willing to accept help.”

Nieto said he gave the town’s Public Works and other staff the day off on Thursday to recover from a horrible day. The mayor added that they are awaiting test results from the scene to come back.

“We continue to ask for prayers for the victims, our EMTs, assisting agencies, and or medical personnel who may currently be experiencing symptoms, whether at the hospital or at home,” Nieto wrote on social media.

Antonette Alguire, a firefighter with Mountainair’s volunteer fire department, helped give CPR to a woman outside the home, the Associated Press reported. She watched as EMTs and firefighters started coughing, vomiting and becoming dizzy. She told reporters she never went inside the building and had not experienced any symptoms, but described the situation as a frightening reminder of what first responders now face on the job.

“I guess we’re just going to have to start wearing hazmat suits into these calls and wearing oxygen,” she told the AP. “It’s getting to that point where we just have to live in fear, even saving lives.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, there are no confirmed cases of first responders suffering opioid toxicity or overdosing from passive, occupational exposure to drugs like fentanyl. However, large-scale surveys show that up to 15 percent of first responders believe they have been exposed to opioids, with less than 1 percent reporting mild, temporary, or non-specific physical symptoms.

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