Influx of ER visits reported following lifted 'do not use' advisories

[G_j]

Last edited Thu Jan 16, 2014, 02:10 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/Kanawha/201401150040

January 15, 2014
Influx of ER visits reported following lifted 'do not use' advisories
by Marcus Constantino
Daily Mail Staff

Area emergency rooms are seeing an influx of patients reporting symptoms related to exposure to chemical-tainted water, despite the fact that West Virginia American Water has deemed water in many areas safe to use.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said 101 patients visited area emergency rooms in the 36-hour span ending at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.

They reported symptoms related to exposure to tainted water. He said 46 of those visits occurred between 7 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday.

"What we are seeing when we talk to our partners in hospital systems are people with skin and eye irritation, rashes, nausea, upset stomach and diarrhea," Gupta said.

All of those symptoms have been connected with exposure to crude MCHM, the chemical that leaked from a Freedom Industries storage tank Thursday into the Elk River, and then into West Virginia American Water's Charleston treatment plant a mile and a half downstream.

Gupta said many of those patients reported using water that was deemed safe to use by West Virginia American Water. As of Wednesday afternoon, the do-not-use order has been lifted for 51,600 of the 100,000 customers affected by the chemical spill.

..more..

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[DJ13]

1. K&R