A student at Virginia Shuman Young Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale discharged a novelty stink (fart) spray in a hallway, a restroom, and a classroom on Friday, and the building's response resembled one to a chemical emergency: a hold, hazmat crews, 10 children evaluated for trouble breathing, and three sent to a hospital.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said crews were called after a report that a student had sprayed an "odor-causing substance" in a room. Fort Lauderdale Police described it as a "fart spray." Hazmat teams took air readings and determined no hazards were present. The three students taken to the hospital went as a precaution.
"Today, a student brought a spray to school and discharged it in a hallway, restroom and classroom. Several students reported experiencing symptoms. As a precaution, the affected areas were cleared, and the school was placed on a hold," Principal Cyndi Felton wrote to parents and guardians. "Emergency medical personnel and hazmat officials are responding to assess the situation. The spray bottle has been located."
Virginia Shuman Young is a Broward County school of about 609 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade, with a student-teacher ratio near 19 to 1.
Why the big response
What the front office knew was that something had been sprayed, a child had sprayed it, nobody knew what was in the bottle, and students were saying they could not breathe. At that point, there was no way to rule out a real chemical exposure. The air was only declared safe after the hazmat team took readings. That came later. Waiting to identify the substance before moving students away from it would have put the steps in the wrong order.
About 6.7% of American children, roughly 4.8 million, have asthma, according to CDC survey data. In a school of 609 that is around 40 children, and a strong irritant in an enclosed hallway is the sort of trigger their action plans are written for.
Neither the school nor police have said what will happen to the child who brought the bottle.
Sources
NBC6 South Florida: Multiple students impacted in fart spray incident at Fort Lauderdale school
CBS News Chicago: One student hospitalized after stink bomb is set off in Chicago Lawn school
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Most Recent National Asthma Data
Enrollment and staffing figures from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data.
