Rash causes hazmat response at Fla. school

Dozen students, 2 teachers complained of itchy rashes

May 17, 2012 06:20 AM

**AP Photo/The Miami Herald, Walter Michot**
Hollywood Fire Rescue suit up and enter McArthur High School in Hollywood, Fla., Wednesday. Twelve students and two teachers have been transported to area hospitals after getting a rash during class.

CNN.com

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A southern Florida high school was placed in lockdown for a time Wednesday after a dozen students and two teachers complained of itchy rashes, officials said.

A decontamination area was set up after the morning incident at McArthur High School in Hollywood.

The affected students and teachers were sent to two area hospitals as a precaution.

“It has been determined that this is not an infectious condition,” said Nadine Drew, spokeswoman for Broward County Public Schools. “They were all still being evaluated and expected to be released.”

The cause of the rashes was not immediately known, Drew told CNN.

Twenty-one students were in a general classroom on the second floor at the time. The floor and, later, the building were evacuated.

Parents were notified of the incidents by robocall and received a later update.

Kerting Baldwin, spokeswoman for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Memorial Regional Hospital, said the 14 patients were discharged by mid-afternoon Wednesday.

Fire-EMS Infectious Diseases