Substance Not a Threat
The substance in a suspicious package that sent two men to Frederick Memorial Hospital yesterday, closing down the hospital's Emergency Department for much of the afternoon, has yet to be identified, according to Frederick City Police. Lt. Clark Pennington said in an interview today that the FBI is doing the testing, and confirmed the substance is not a biological threat, but that the FBI will need a few more days to identify it. [Photo above FMH, by Katherine Heerbrandt]
Preliminary testing by Frederick County Fire and Rescue indicated the substance was a common household chemical, according to a police report. Two men arrived at the hospital just before noon Tuesday complaining of burns and respiratory distress after receiving a package in the mail they said contained a substance that made them sick. The men, from the 400 block of Military Road in Frederick, have not been identified, but did not have any serious injuries, according to the hospital's Director of Marketing Melissa Lambdin.
Frederick County's Hazardous Materials Response team closed down the Emergency Department, and police and rescue cordoned off the hospital entrances with crime tape. The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspector and fire and rescue crews from Frederick and Germantown were on the scene, including a medical ambulance bus to transport people from the hospital if necessary.
The hospital reopened at 3 p.m. yesterday.
