WAYNE COUNTY, Ky (LEX 18) – After rushing into a home to help someone yesterday, four Wayne County first responders found themselves sick and unable to breathe.
"A gentleman said he was having shortness of breath, couldn’t breathe, then the phone went blank," said Wayne County Emergency Management Director Sherwin Corder.
EMTs arrived at the apartment in downtown Monticello, but they didn’t know what was going on. They got inside the home to try and find the man who made the call, but he wasn’t there.
The man who lives inside the home said he ran out of the door as quickly as possible because he was having trouble breathing. He said that is because he set off three bug bombs and cans of bug spray at the same time.
"I set three bug bombs, three cans at a time and I was only supposed to do one. But I didn’t know it," said Jackie Abbott.
The EMTs did not know any of this had happened, so they all inhaled the fumes and right away, they started feeling nauseous and couldn’t breathe well.
"They got outside. They started vomiting and so forth so we had to send extra crews to take care of them also," said Corder.
Four EMTs ended up going to the hospital, but now, they’re all okay. Emergency leaders said that this is a perfect example of why you should always stay on the line with 911 and answer the operator’s questions.
"Don’t ever hang up until the dispatcher or communicator tells them to do so," said Corder.
