# 5828
Maryn McKenna writing on her Superbug Blog has information on a disturbing trend in suicides – the mixing of household chemicals to produce toxic gases – that poses a direct threat to first responders.
Maryn, who has spent a good deal of time in Emergency Rooms, has a good understanding of the risks run by rescue personnel. Something she demonstrated last year in Putting their lives on the line: Meningitis in first responders.
Today she brings us a report based on an MMWR Bulletin released yesterday called Chemical Suicides in Automobiles --- Six States, 2006—2010. Go read:
Dangerous and Sad: Rising Suicides by Chemical Fumes
Although I try not to do `war stories’ in the blog, it is worth noting that 1978 I had an elderly patient who drank a pint or more of an unidentified insecticide (probably parathion) in a suicide attempt.
He vomited en route to the hospital in the back of my rig, exposing me to the chemical and its fumes. In the ER – as we administered multiple doses of Atropine – he vomited again this time exposing a doctor and 2 ER nurses.
This was back before we had specialized HAZMAT crews or really any protocols for dealing with this sort of thing.
The bottom line: All of us ended up sickened by the fumes and skin exposure to the chemical, and all of us required weeks to recover.
While the use of toxic chemicals to commit suicide was pretty rare 30 years ago, today it appears to be a growing trend. One that can endanger anyone who arrives on the scene: first responders, family members, and even members of the general public.
