Toxic alert forces lockdown at Newcastle General Hospital

Oct 21 2009 by Rob Pattinson, The Journal

AN accident and emergency unit was put into “lockdown” for a time last night after a woman from Northumberland was contaminated with a toxic chemical.

Medical staff and patients were among those prevented from entering the A&E section at Newcastle General Hospital for 30 minutes while the woman received emergency care.

It is understood that doctors and paramedics who came into contact with the woman had to be decontaminated afterwards.

It is believed she had been exposed to phosphane, which is used for pest control and is highly toxic. Hospital staff were also seen leaving the building before stripping off clothes that could have picked up the substance.

These were then taken to an incinerator on the hospital site.

Witnesses said that, at one point, they could see people leaning out of the building’s upper windows, apparently for air.

The patient, believed to be in her early 40s, was found by police in a silver Range Rover on the road between Ridley Hall and Langley Castle and Haydon Bridge, close to a remote farm, in Tynedale.

She was unconscious and smoke was seen coming from the car.