Monterey County Herald
SAN JOSE, Calif. — An 18-year-old man is in critical condition and Valley Medical Center’s emergency room is shut indefinitely down to new patients because of toxic contamination, following a mysterious chemical gas released from the teen’s home on Yucca Avenue in San Jose.
Authorities told the San Jose Mercury News they don’t know what kind of toxic substance was released around 8:05 a.m. inside a house on the 3000 block of Yucca Avenue. Hazardous materials crews are on scene trying to sort out the mess, police and fire dispatchers said.
Police were dispatched to the home after a woman called 911 to report an attempted suicide.
But the toxic problem expanded to the VMC emergency room, where the teenager and possibly a woman were reportedly taken. The teen is in critical condition and his vital signs are unstable, a Valley Medical spokeswoman said. Initially authorities had reported the teen had died.
“They brought a patient in before they realized he was contaminated,” said an emergency room staff member. “Now the entire ER is contaminated. Employees can’t leave, have to stay in their areas.”
Hospital spokeswoman Joy Alexiou confirmed the hospital’s emergency department is closed to new patients, and the staff is being decontaminated. She said she did not know what kind of toxic substance was involved.
Valley Medical’s emergency room is one of three trauma centers in Santa Clara County.
AMR ambulances are busy taking patients to other hospitals, according to authorities, and private companies are also being called to take sick people to other nearby hospitals.
According to a fire dispatcher, only the house in question on Yucca Avenue was evacuated.