Overdose Victim Dies From Chemical That Contaminated Responders

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Annapolis and Anne Arundel County firefighters were treated for exposure to a toxic chemical — used as the explosive agent in vehicle airbags and in pesticides — ingested by an overdose victim who later died. Authorities said no injuries were reported to fire personnel or emergency room staffers at Anne Arundel County Medical Center; the death was announced Friday afternoon

The incident began shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday when Annapolis and Anne Arundel Fire Department units were dispatched to the 900 block of Bay Ridge Road for a report that someone had overdosed. Annapolis Fire Department spokesman Ken White said in a news release that fire crews noticed a white powdery chemical substance that the unidentified patient ingested.

The Annapolis Hazmat team was dispatched investigate the substance found in the victim's vehicle, and it was identified as the potentially deadly sodium azide. The chemical prevents the body's cells from using oxygen, which can lead to severe or fatal heart and brain damage.

White said the name of the overdose patient will not be released at this time.

Fire department personnel, vehicles, equipment, and hospital emergency room workers who had direct contact with the patient were all decontaminated, White said. As a precaution all their uniforms were disposed of and the chemical was contained.

Authorities say they do not yet know how the overdose patient obtained the chemical.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, sodium azide is a rapidly acting, potentially deadly chemical that exists as an odorless white solid. Manufacturers use the chemical to explode when triggered by an electrical charge during a crash to inflate airbag; it is also used as a chemical preservative in hospitals and laboratories, for pest control in agriculture, and in detonators and other explosives.

Photo from the Hazmat incident Thursday in Annapolis, courtesy of Mike Hugg Media