12/19/06 - I was the officer of the first ambulance on the scene and the first one in the building in the Orland Park hazmat incident that you have already written about. I've been reading your letters for a couple of years now and I never thought that a simple asthma EMS call could get so intense so quikly and develop into such a dangerous situation. It came down to making a split second decision and we decided to stay and perform 2 recues inside the house. Unfortunatly 1 of the residents passed away from what I believe were severe respiratory track burns from a combination of home remedies, bleach, and industrial strength drain cleaners which turned into other chlorine based gases and other acids. The good news is the other 2 residents will both make it. It depends on what B/C you talk to wether we made the right decision to stay in the house. There will always be critics of judgement calls like these but I hope that we made the right one.Just wanted to let you know all 6 of us were treated and released from 3 different area hospitals that day and are expected to be back to work next shift. Thanks again for your article, just hope I never have to read about anyone, especially myself and the people I work with ever again. LESSONS LEARNED: We are working with the department safety committee to look at the situation and see what else could have been done to make a future call like this end up with no injuries and learn from this experience. I believe The FPD is expecting a visit from the IL DOL who will probably cunduct there own investigation and deliver a set of recommendations.

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