REGULAR RANTS

 
A 34 year-old-farmer in the prefecture of Kumamoto, Japan, who deliberately swallowed a large dose of a highly-volatile toxic agro-based pesticide called chlorpicrin, nearly killed 54 others when he vomited while undergoing stomach pumping to remove the poison. 

In a scene straight out of some alien movie, doctors at the Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital emergency room were attempting to insert a nasogastric tube through his nose into his stomach to suck out the poison, when the man suddenly started throwing up and sprayed his rescuers with his stomach contents, causing everybody around him to develop breathing difficulties and sore eyes.  10 of the rescuers had to be hospitalized for treatment.  Patients (including children) and staff in the adjoining waiting and treatment rooms were also struck down by the toxic fumes, with the worst being a 72-year-old patient suffering from pneumonia. Inhalation of this poison is potentially fatal.

The entire emergency department was closed and firefighters had to be called in to decontaminate the area.

The patient died soon after.