As reported by the Associated Press, emergency services were called to the scene due to a suspected drug overdose. New Mexico State Police said three of four people found unconscious in Mountainair, east of Albuquerque, have died. The fourth is being treated at a local hospital.
Medical staff and firefighters who arrived at the scene began to feel severe nausea, dizziness and vomiting after contact with an unidentified substance.
The University of New Mexico Hospital confirmed that it had received 23 patients – most of them paramedics – who underwent decontamination (detoxification) procedures. Some of them did not show symptoms of poisoning and were discharged home after tests. Rescuers leaving the medical facility had to leave all personal items, including glasses and jewelry, at the scene.
Unknown substance in the USA. Two rescuers are in a serious condition
State Police Trooper Wilson Silver said two rescuers were in serious condition. Mountainair's chief of emergency services, Josh Lewis, who was the first to enter the building, spent the night in hospital for observation.
Antonette Alguire from the Mountainair Volunteer Fire Department, who took part in the resuscitation of one of the women, described the situation as dramatic.
— I guess we'll have to start putting on protective suits for calls like this and using breathing apparatus. We're getting to the point where we have to live in fear, even while saving lives, Alguire said.
Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto told The Associated Press that investigators had ruled out carbon monoxide and natural gas poisoning.
— They don't know if it's drugs. They don't know if it's something else. They don't know if it's a mix of both,” the mayor said.
Silver reassured that the substance is probably transmitted only through direct contact, not through the air, and does not pose a threat to public safety. All findings so far point to narcotic substances as the probable cause of the victims' deaths.
