Georgia Sheriff's Sgt died after being exposed to toxins

Sergeant Greg Meagher died after being exposed to liquid nitrogen fumes while attempting to rescue a woman at a medical facility at 1100 Emmett Street in Augusta.

He and several other deputies had responded to the facility and were told that a woman was unconscious inside. The deputies entered the facility to rescue the woman and were overcome by the fumes. Fire department personnel arrived on the scene and were able to remove Sergeant Meagher and the employee. They were both transported to Augusta University Hospital where Sergeant Meagher passed away.

The other three deputies were treated for their exposure to the toxins.

Sergeant Meagher had served with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office for 33 years. In 2004 he was shot in the face while assigned to a federal narcotics task force.

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Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Sheriff Richard Roundtree
Richmond County Sheriff's Office
400 Walton Way
Augusta, GA 30901

Phone: (706) 821-1080

Wait, the guy who played Shaft is a county sheriff?

When did nitrogen become a toxin? isn't 78% of what we breath nitrogen? If so, he asphyxiated, not died of contamination of a toxin.

Either way, that's a bummer. He put his life on the line to save someone.

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Originally Posted by clodhopper

When did nitrogen become a toxin? isn't 78% of what we breath nitrogen? If so, he asphyxiated, not died of contamination of a toxin.

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Comprehension is a wonderful thing.

While the 'gas' coming off of liquid nitrogen would simply asphyxiate you the 'fumes' are a tad bit cold... they can severely 'burn' the skin around the mouth, larynx, all the way down to those little bronchial things.. So yes the fumes can kill. Or you can go inhale some if you'd like and test your theory.

Gaseous Nitrogen will displace air and asphyxiate, as will a bunch of other gases, but it is not a toxin. It does not have enough thermal mass to cause freeze burns either. Air in the -60F degree range can be safely breathed for a short duration with no freezing. There are several cases of people breathing pure Nitrogen boiling off the liquid with no burns...mostly idiot kids thinking it would be like Nitrous.

http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~choi/MSD...s/NITROGEN.pdf

This was due to a leak at a storage facility that does cyropreservation for cells and medical tissues. They believe he died from inhaling liquid nitrogen while attempting to rescue a female employee, but it won't be confirmed until results from the autopsy come back.

RIP, Sergeant Greg Meagher.

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Originally Posted by TheGrey

They believe he died from inhaling liquid nitrogen

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So he drowned?

Ug. Stupid reporters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clodhopper

So he drowned?

Ug. Stupid reporters.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkCO

Gaseous Nitrogen will displace air and asphyxiate, as will a bunch of other gases, but it is not a toxin. It does not have enough thermal mass to cause freeze burns either. Air in the -60F degree range can be safely breathed for a short duration with no freezing. There are several cases of people breathing pure Nitrogen boiling off the liquid with no burns...mostly idiot kids thinking it would be like Nitrous.

http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~choi/MSD...s/NITROGEN.pdf

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Asphyxia due to oxygen displacement.

Markco saved me from some typing, by responding this way.

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Originally Posted by clodhopper

So he drowned?

Ug. Stupid reporters.

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http://www.wrdw.com/content/news/BRE...412835443.html

RIP

Sadly, he died from Terminal Stupid.
Anyone who has had any sort of HazMat training understands a few basic rules.
1-The big 3- Uphill, Upwind and Upstream. If you ever encounter a suspected HazMat situation observe the big 3.
2- You NEVER attempt to rescue. You wait until the correct resources are in place to attempt rescue, otherwise it becomes a recovery, often for the original victim and those that attempted rescue.


It would not take much nitrogen to skew oxygen levels. IIRC optimum oxygen levels hover in the 19% range. If that ratio gets off by more than a percentages point either way it can have fatal consequences.

Sad case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clodhopper

When did nitrogen become a toxin? isn't 78% of what we breath nitrogen? If so, he asphyxiated, not died of contamination of a toxin.

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It was toxic enough to kill him, the word toxin in this case was not being used in the most literal manner. Same thing happens in underground enclosed electrical vaults and sewers. They must be blown out and oxygen circulated to make them less "toxic"

I will bet anyone $1 this case will be in my HAZWOPER refresher course this year.

Lest we forget, one person died, and it looks like a few were injured, so sad.

The articles are now saying the PD responded to a burglar alarm. Something else was going on maybe?

Sad that he died. I have no idea how you can breathe "liquid nitrogen in the air". The "air" would have to be extremely cold to keep the nitrogen in liquid form at atmospheric pressure.

Read something similar about several workers that died in Florida due to gas created by decomposing organic matter. One worker wouldn't respond so another would go in...then not respond, so another goes in...

I bet when this lady makes her recovery all she'll be able to talk about is how dumb this officer was and be totally embarrassed about the less than accurate press headlines.

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Originally Posted by MarkCO

I will bet anyone $1 this case will be in my HAZWOPER refresher course this year.

Lest we forget, one person died, and it looks like a few were injured, so sad.

The articles are now saying the PD responded to a burglar alarm. Something else was going on maybe?

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If I am teaching it, it will be. This is a perfect example of so many things in the hazmat world. Yes as has been said it is a simple asphyxiant, it displaces oxygen in a space. Just for knowledge a chemical asphyxiant displaces oxygen at the cellular level (Carbon Monoxide or Hydrogen Cyanide). It has no Toxicological Data it has no PEL or IDLH. It is an asphyxiant and you must wear a supplied air respiratory protection.

Sucks he lost his life and others were injured, the circumstances around it will be interesting to read.

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Originally Posted by Gman

Read something similar about several workers that died in Florida due to gas created by decomposing organic matter. One worker wouldn't respond so another would go in...then not respond, so another goes in...

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/miamihe...126799319.html

Your Google-Fu is strong. Thanks for finding that info. 3 contractors dead and nearly lost a firefighter responding to the situation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clodhopper

When did nitrogen become a toxin? isn't 78% of what we breath nitrogen? If so, he asphyxiated, not died of contamination of a toxin.

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I'm not a doctor

Grant Thompson (King of Random) threw liquid nitrogen on his face - a few times - on purpose. I figured his face would have turned white and cracked off, but no harm was done at all. Interesting. I imagine if he had put some in a bucket, stuck his head into the vapor and inhaled deeply, he'd be worm food.

I don't know that I would be calling this officer "stupid"- he died trying to save someone else. According to the article, they were called out on a burglary alarm, so they went in. There was no smoke from a fire, and I have to wonder how many people would immediately think of Hazmat situations when on a burglary call?

I can't locate if the female employee died.

I sure hope this company puts some better protocols in place. This is awful.