Ambulance trio end up in hospital after treating suspected druggie shooting up in shopping centre toilet.
Experts are still trying to identify a mystery chemical at a South Auckland shopping mall that put three paramedics in hospital yesterday.
The St John staff came into contact with the chemical as they treated a man who is understood to have been injecting it from a jar in a toilet at Westfield Manukau.
DO YOU KNOW MORE? EMAIL THE HERALD
The man was found by a cleaner about 1.20pm.
Nancy Latu said she was cleaning the women's toilet next door to the men's facilities when she heard a noise, and another cleaner found the man in a cubicle.
The chemical had a very strong smell, she said.
"For me, it was almost like when you enter a hospital. I came outside and saw an ambulance officer run outside and try to breathe."
She saw the man in the cubicle slumped over, with syringes set up around him.
Numerous police, firefighters and St John vehicles descended upon the shopping centre, on the corner of Great South Rd and Manukau Station Rd.
The Westfield Manukau car park was converted into a decontamination base and people were seen being given something to drink, vomiting and then being hosed down behind tarpaulins.
St John spokesman Robbie Walker said the three paramedics and the male patient were transported to Middlemore Hospital in Otahuhu after the ordeal.
The original patient and one paramedic were initially in a serious condition. The others were less sick.
One of the paramedics was treated and discharged soon after arrival at Middlemore, and the other two were discharged last night.
The original patient was still in the emergency department last night but was stable, Middlemore spokeswoman Lauren Young said.
Fire Service spokesman Jaron Phillips said hazardous-material crews decontaminated personnel and took control of the chemical. Westfield spokeswoman Debra McGhie said the mall was not evacuated and all shops were open and operating again by 3pm.
She said because there wasn't a "security threat" to the shopping centre, no security measures would be stepped up.
Westfield Manukau was patrolled by security guards and CCTV cameras were operating, so every incident was monitored.
The incident came after a terrorist group in Somalia released a video advising its supporters to attack Westfield malls around the world.
"This is a very rare occurrence, what's happened today," Ms McGhie said.
"We responded to the situation pretty much immediately. It was a rare occurrence but irrespective of that, we monitor activity. That's part of what we do, that's part of our procedures," she said.
A police spokeswoman said the man in the toilet was understood to have been "self-administering drugs".
"The mall wasn't closed or evacuated, there is no risk to the public and it's business as usual now," she said.
A Fire Service spokesman said the chemical had not been identified last night but would be investigated by Auckland Council's hazardous substances officers.
An Auckland Council spokeswoman refused to comment.
Dr Maia Hetaraka: 'Cultural competence' should evolve into genuine cultural understanding.