Cause of Hazmat in Hagerstown: Morning Sickness

BALTIMORE (AP) - A pregnant Burundian woman's morning sickness and a language barrier led officials in a western Maryland town to exercise what they later called an abundance of caution Wednesday, as rescue workers fearing a hazmat incident donned full gear and herded members of a refugee family into a decontamination tent for examination.

Once a translator arrived on the scene, authorities realized they were not dealing with a possible environmental crisis, but with a woman undergoing a difficult pregnancy, and a second woman with the flu.

"We erred on the side of caution," Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey said Wednesday night. "In this day and age, we'd rather be careful."

Bruchey said the incident began Wednesday afternoon when a resident of an apartment building in downtown Hagerstown approached a police officer who was at the building on an unrelated matter.

The resident and 16 others who live in the building are refugees from Burundi, and spoke their native dialect and French, but little English, said Richard Cline, director of the refugee resettlement program of the Virginia Council of Churches.

The officer went to the apartment the resident directed him to and found a woman and a 13-year-old girl violently ill from flu-like symptoms, Bruchey said. Because the residents were unable to tell the officer why they were sick, the officer summoned help.

"We called in some medical units, and the health department was notified. Precautions were taken," Bruchey said.

Firefighters, fearing an environmental contaminant, donned hazmat gear and assisted the 17 residents from the building, which also houses business offices.

Two people were sent to Washington County Hospital as a precaution, the health care facility said. The other 15 residents did not display any flu-like symptoms and were allowed to return to their apartments, Bruchey said.

The incident shut down one block for two and a half hours.

"It was great practice for our response people," Bruchey said. "They did a wonderful job, acted accordingly, followed protocol and it came out positive."

Cline said local authorities responded appropriately, given the language barrier, but the misunderstanding points out the need for increased communication between service providers in the area.

"We certainly will be working on improving communication with all the providers in the area," Cline said.

The Virginia Council of Churches places refugees from all over the world in Virginia and Maryland. The Burundians were fleeing civil war and ethnic strife in their home country. Cline noted that participants in the program receive medical screening before they arrive in the United States and by local authorities.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)