Planned Parenthood in Sarasota evacuated; cleaning chemicals sicken 7

Planned Parenthood in downtown Sarasota was evacuated Monday morning after cleaning chemicals made several people sick, according to the Sarasota Police Department. Seven people were treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital for shortness of breath.

Police said no criminal investigation was underway.

Sarasota police were dispatched to the Planned Parenthood shortly before 10:30 a.m. to assist the Sarasota County Fire Department, according to Sarasota police spokeswoman Genevieve Judge.

“What our HAZMAT teams have found was a substance in a stairwell. After further analysis, we found that it was baby formula that was spilled in the stairwell due to the evacuation process,” said Sarasota County Assistant Fire Chief Bill Hoag from the scene shortly after noon. “We also found uncapped cleaning solutions in the building. We’re going to go in there and we’re going to over-pack those -- so we’re going to put those in larger containers -- we’re going to move them out of the building and we’ll further investigate to see what those cleaning supplies were.”

Thirty-four other people inside the building were seated on an air-conditioned bus outside the building, and were not showing any symptoms, police said.

The Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida issued a Facebook statement from CEO Barbara Zdravecky on the situation.

“At Planned Parenthood our top priority is the safety of our patients, staff, and community. This morning several members of our Sarasota Health Center staff felt ill while working, and emergency responders were called. The building was evacuated and an investigation took place,” Zdravecky’s statement read. “Law enforcement has determined that fumes from cleaning solution located in a janitorial closet entered a nearby workspace, causing some staff to feel ill. A substance was also observed on the outdoor stairs and has since been identified as baby formula.”

She added that the seven staff members who were transported to the hospital would be released shortly.

“We are thankful to local law enforcement and emergency responders for quickly managing the situation and ensuring the safety of our staff,” Zdravecky’s statement concluded. “Our Sarasota Health Center will remain closed today and we will resume regular business hours beginning tomorrow. Patients are being asked to reschedule their appointments, and should call 407-246-1788 for more information.”

Also affected during the incident was the nearby Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences, which for a time was on a “modified lockdown.”

“All the students and staff are safe,” Judge said “Because the school is right across the street from Planned Parenthood, no one is being allowed in or out the west side of the building.”

Multiple Sarasota County fire trucks were on scene and the intersection of Central Avenue and Boulevard of the Arts was partially blocked by a Sarasota police unit.

“As of 10:45 a.m., six patients are being transported for evaluation. There are approximately 38 people inside,” police said in an initial news release. “According to the Fire Department, everyone will be decontaminated on scene.”

Responding fire units include two hazardous materials teams, one each from Sarasota County Fire and Southern Manatee Fire Rescue, police said.

As soon as Sarasota Memorial Hospital was alerted about the situation in Planned Parenthood, staff quickly began assembling a decontamination center on the ground floor of the hospital’s South Garage near Hillview Street and Arlington Street.

“When the patients got here, all the patients came right through the entrance to the South Garage,” said Rich Miller, deputy chief of public safety at the Sarasota County Hospital District. “Their first place was right here above us. You’ll see a Trident -- that’s our deluge area. Each one of them had to be in that area for three to five minutes.”

Miller pointed up towards the garage ceiling at the water deployment system, which earlier delivered a low pressure, high volume water shower to the patients. From there, those affected were taken to privacy showers behind blue tarps -- two rows of which hung behind Miller as he spoke.

The patients were undressed and their jewelry was removed and placed into bags as part of the decontamination process. Miller said decontamination staff were in there in full suits, instructing each patient on what to do, where to wash and how to wash.

After washing themselves, patients were provided gowns and moved to what’s called a medical triage zone, where Miller said clinical staff triaged the patients and got them to the emergency care center as quickly as possible.

“We don’t want whatever chemical or other product to go into the ECC, where it could possibly contaminate staff, other patients, our visitors, or anybody that’s in there,” he said. “So even though the fire department will do a gross decon (decontamination) at the scene, once they come to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, we will always run them the decontamination process again.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Planned Parenthood in Sarasota evacuated; cleaning chemicals sicken 7."