Officials at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa in Mason City now say one person died in a chemical spill last night on their West Campus. A news release from Mercy says that a sodium hydroxide spill happened in the hospital’s “Textile Service Department” at about 7 o’clock last night.
During the situation, one of Mercy’s associates had a medical emergency. The Mason City Fire Department and Ambulance Service was called and unable to revive David Weaver, who has worked with Mercy for 15 years. Four firefighters and four other Mercy associates involved in the incident were also evaluated and later released.
Mason City Fire Chief Bob Platts says once the fire department arrived, they realized that chemicals had been released in an area where they are used…that area was cordoned off until a private company came in to clean up the product. Platts says the chemical spill was well maintained and has already been cleaned up.
He says it was mostly contained to one room, and none of it got out into the environment. A spokeswoman for the hospital says they will be issuing a news release about the incident later today.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City