Unknown substance prompts major response, hold and secure at Moncton school

Emergency responders attending a Moncton school due to unknown substance that turned out to be baking soda.

A hold and secure has been lifted at Evergreen Park School in northwest Moncton.

Dozens of firefighters and a hazmat team were at the K-5 school Thursday morning after a report of a medical emergency which the Moncton Fire Department now says was the result of a woman breathing in sodium bicarbonate, which is basically baking soda.

Hold and secure

An email was sent out to Evergreen Park families at 9:44 a.m. Thursday from the superintendent and CEO of the Anglophone East School District providing an update on the situation.

“At approximately 9:10 a.m. this morning, a member of the EPS staff experienced a medical emergency in the school. The administration team immediately contacted 911 and first responders have arrived at the school,” read the email from Randolph MacLEAN.

“In order for the first responders to do their work safely, the school has enacted their Hold & Secure procedures out of an abundance of care and caution. Hold and Secure indicates that movement inside the building is as normal, but nobody is permitted to enter or exit the building until it is lifted.”

Worried parents

As of 10:30 a.m. fire, police and Ambulance NB members were still on scene.

Police put tape around the main driveway to keep parents back.

Brittany Martems has a daughter in Grade 3 at the school.

“It’s not a situation you see a lot,” said Martems. “They’ve got the whole block locked off and a corner full of worried parents. I just hope that everything is OK and the kids will come out safely.”

In an email update sent to families at 11:20 a.m., the superintendent said first responders remain on site.

“They continue to investigate the cause of the medical emergency experienced by a staff member earlier today. Out of an abundance of the utmost care and caution, this has required an extended period of time for first responders to remain in the building, as well as the deployment of a hazmat team to assist in their investigation,” reads the email.

“We want to reassure you that the staff member directly impacted remains okay and no students or any additional staff members have been affected.”

Hold and secure lifted

Keith Guptill, deputy chief of operations for the Moncton Fire Department, said there was a complete deployment of the hazmat team.

Guptill added a woman in the office opened a package and inhaled an amount of white powder and had extreme difficulty breathing.

“(The sodium bicarbonate is) for a Diaper Genie, like somebody would have in their own homes for wet, dirty diapers. It’s got a little bit of a perfume to it, but we had no way of knowing that because it doesn’t say so on the box,” said Guptill.

Guptill said it was that uncertainty that caused a massive response.

“It is quite the operation and part of that is not knowing what the product is. It could be any kind of scare. We know there is a lot of crazy things happening in our world right now so we have to treat it exactly like something that could be very dangerous,” said Guptill.

“This is a big deployment, but obviously if this was a different product this could be a big problem.”

The woman who opened the package was sent to hospital, Guptill said.

Firefighters and paramedics went from class to class to make sure all the staff and students were OK.

Guptill praised the teaching staff for keeping the kids safe.

Just before noon, the district said the hold and secure had been lifted.

District spokesperson Stephanie Patterson said the baking soda was in a Diaper Genie box which staff had ordered.

“The police are investigating to confirm that baking soda is usually placed in these boxes for freshness,” said Patterson.

Meaghan Smith has four kids attending Evergreen Park School and was very relieved to get an update from the fire department.

“It was obviously worrisome because you get this email going out and you hear all these sirens and everything else,” said Smith. “We have four little ones inside so it’s a really good feeling to know that they’re all OK.”

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