Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 9
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Case 1: Three Investigations
• Coroner
– Patient died from cervical cancer
– Fumes that sickened hospital workers were just the “smell of death ”
• Cal-OSHA
– No safety violations
– Three employees had “involuntary psychological reaction to some
agents” while the rest suffered from mass hysteria
• California Dept of Health Services (CDC)
– “An outbreak of mass sociogenic illness perhaps triggered by an o dor”
– Also possible that a few staff members were exposed to unknown
toxic chemical
Module One – Observed Behaviors during Mass Chemical Exposures
9
The coroner’s report determined the cause of death to be cervical cancer, but found no
chemicals that might account for the event. That report speculated that others were
overcome by “the smell of death”.
The official opinion of Cal-OSHA (state Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
is that, while some of the staff may have been affected by hysteria, at least three people
had a genuine reaction to some kind of toxin or agent. They also found no safety
violations – meaning no methamphetamine laboratory in the hospital.
The State Dept. of Health Services report said that most people (eventually over 30) who
reported feeling ill were suffering from stress reactions, but that six staff who were felled
may have been affected by either hysteria or a toxic agent.
The Riverside Dept. of Health says that they now believe that the chief resident, a
respiratory technician and a nurse with prolonged patient contact were not suffering from
hysteria.
Lawrence Livermore Lab released a report hypothesizing that dimethyl sulfate (an
industrial gas with some irritant features and severe systemic effects) could have been
produced from a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) exposure or ingestion; and was the cause
of toxic symptoms in some people.
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