Seventeen sent to hospital in Malden health scare
Seventeen people were rushed to the hospital and a Malden health center was evacuated yesterday after several staffers felt nauseous and complained of sore throats.
Robert Brogna, spokesman for Hallmark Health’s Malden Family Health Center, said the Savin Street clinic was evacuated shortly after 2 p.m. after workers on the third, fourth and fifth floors complained of respiratory issues and nausea.
But after the hazardous materials team combed the five-story building for hazardous chemicals, fire officials were still unsure of the cause.
“We metered the whole building,” Malden Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Almeida said. “It was a small amount of Formaldehyde but so little of it, it was hard to say what it could have been.”
Although Almeida said a hygienist will re-inspect the building to “double check” for chemicals, he announced the building was safe enough for employees to go back inside.
By 6 p.m. yesterday, the 17 staffers had been sent home from the hospital, Brogna said.
And though there were no reported injuries, the sight of firetrucks and police cruisers surrounding the building shocked area residents.
“I thought it was a shooting or a bombing,” said Angela Koerber, 53. “It’s always so nice and quiet here.”
Gale Fulton, 70, whose mother lives in a nursing home across the street, called the incident “nerve-wracking.”
“I didn’t know what it was, coming here and seeing all the police,” she said.
Rosanna Figueiredo, 47, who serves as the nursing home’s director of social services, said her team’s thoughts were with the affected workers.
“We’re concerned about the safety and well-being of our friends and colleagues across the street,” she said. “We were worried something potentially very serious happened.”