TRAIN UPDATE: Fire extinguished at 7p.m.
News Sentinel staff
5:54 AM, Jul 2, 2015
1 hour ago
.....
Maryville City Manager Greg McClain called the fire on a train car carrying a poisonous liquid a "major crisis" at a noon news conference.
Flener also said members of the 45th Civil Support Team of the Tennessee Air National Guard were en route to Blount County from Smyrna armed with special air-testing equipment. The team, Flener said, will take ground –level air samples to determine the concentrations of potentially harmful substances.
Hague said the 10-county area covered by his Homeland Security region last year obtained a federal grant to buy 30-50 of the cyanokits. Each kit, he said costs $650-$800. Most of the kits were distributed to hospitals in the region, but Hague kept four. He said hospitals also were being contacted to see if those facilities had any cyanokits available.
The cyanokit is a 4-by-10-inch box containing supplies to intravenously administer a chemical that “pulls the cyanide out and allows it to be excreted through the urine,” Hague said.
Cyanide can accumulate in the body to the point it inhibits oxygen uptake by the blood, he said.
“The more rapidly you administer it, the better,” Hague said. Once the cyanide accumulates, no amount of oxygen provided to a victim will suffice because the blood will not carry oxygen to the body. Medical personnel administer the cyanokit.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/watchful-eye/train-derailment-in-blount-county-drives-5000-from-homes_61277897
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