Contaminated Walk-In Patient Prompts Partial Shut-Down of Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley
27 May 2018 | Tehachapi News reported that Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley in Tehachapi, California, was partially shut down for two hours on May 25 when an unnamed individual walked into the facility after being exposed to what is believed to have been an insecticide. The individual was exposed to the substance at nearby Stallion Springs Farm.
Eight people, three from the farm, and five at the hospital, were exposed to risk of contamination and quarantine procedures were initiated at the medical facility.
According to a Kern County Fire Department press release, Matt Redstone, a KCFD engineer, said the substance that supposedly caused the contamination was an applicant soap that had been sprayed on plants the previous night. Workers were exposed to it the next morning.
The individual entered the hospital complaining about feeling sick from exposure to the substance. This was followed by hospital workers in the area also complaining about feeling ill. The hospital said that the individual and one hospital employee displayed symptoms of exposure.
The three additional farm workers that complained of symptoms were decontaminated using soap and water but were not brought to the hospital.
“To my knowledge, there’s no concern of any more contamination,” said Redstone.
Redstone said that it is not clear if the workers’ feelings of sickness were directly related to the applicant soap.
“They were worrying themselves sick,” Redstone said.
Adventist Health runs 20 hospitals and over 280 clinics on the West Coast and in Hawaii. It also operates home care and hospice agencies. According to the Sacramento Business Journal, it is the third-largest private company in the Sacramento region with $3.95 billion in 2016 revenue. The system is affiliated with the Adventist Church.
