Over 30 patients were temporarily moved from a ward of St Luke’s General Hospital in Co Kilkenny following a chemical scare this afternoon.
The incident happened shortly after 1.15pm when a chemical reaction in a bin containing cleaning agents caused alarm over the spreading of fumes. The 31 patients were moved as a precaution after the hospital’s internal emergency plan was enforced and the services of the fire brigade sought.
A spokesman for Kilkenny fire brigade said the chemical was contained in a bin in a washroom next to the surgery ward. Fire services were able to remove it from the hospital before treating it outside by pouring copious amounts of water on it.
He said the chemical in question was a type of chlorine used for disinfection that had reacted with something else in the bin.
Two fire crews from Kilkenny city and one from Freshford responded to the incident.
A spokesman for the Health Service Executive said the patients were temporarily accommodated in other wards until the area in question was declared safe and normal services at the hospital were not affected.
All patients had returned to their ward by 3.15 pm.