VIDLER o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2007-01-04 published
Wiper-fluid punch suspected in death
By Kelly PEDRO and Kate
DUBINSKI, Free Press Reporters, Thurs.,
January 4, 2007
One person is dead and three are in hospital after drinking punch
mixed in an windshield-washer fluid container at two holiday
parties in Chatham-Kent.
The host of one of the parties, Rebecca
DEMEURICHY, 25, died
yesterday after drinking punch that police think was contaminated
with windshield-wiper fluid, which contains methyl alcohol.
Her husband, Rob
DEMEURICHY, is one of the three people being
treated at a London hospital.
Police said they are still investigating whether the contamination
was intentional.
One person was in critical and another in serious condition at
London Health Sciences Centre after being flown by air ambulance
from Erieau.
The parties took place in Erieau, Chatham Kent-Police said. The
condition of the third person was not known.
Police are urging anyone who was at
DEMEURICHY home at 857 Mariners
Rd., or at the home of Mary Lou
VIDLER and Hartley
VIDLER at
1300 Vidler Ave. between December 23 and January 1, to go to
the nearest emergency department immediately.
"The sooner you (go) to hospital after drinking something toxic,
the better chance you have," said Doctor Margaret
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON, medical
director of the Ontario Regional Poison Information Centre.
The VIDLERs, in their 70s, and
DEMEURICHYs, in their mid-20s,
are related, said Insp. George
FLIKWEERT.
Police received a call to 857 Mariners Rd. in Erieau yesterday
morning.
When they arrived, they found one person dead. Another was taken
by helicopter to a London hospital.
Later yesterday, one more person was flown to a London hospital
and another person drove themselves, police said.
The death and illnesses are being linked to an alcoholic mixed
punch served at the two addresses on December 23 and December 31,
FLIKWEERT said.
The drink concoction was mixed in a container and may have had
traces of windshield washer fluid.
An autopsy could begin as early as today to determine
DEMEURICHY's
cause of death.
The mixed drink was served at an open house party at the
VIDLER
residence on December 23 and again at a New Year's Eve party
at the DEMEURICHY home.
Rebecca DEMEURICHY was ill Tuesday, two days after the second
party, FLIKWEERT said.
Between 12 and 18 people who were at one or both of the residences
have already been contacted and gone to hospital,
FLIKWEERT said.
He said anyone who was at either house for a drink may have been
contaminated.
"People may be laying around thinking they have the flu and in
fact it's a… poisoning that may cause serious bodily harm or
death," he said.
The problem with drinking "other alcohols" such as those found
in gasoline antifreeze and windshield-washer fluid is that the
body doesn't metabolize them right away,
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON said.
Someone who drank "bad alcohol" could just feel drunk, and then
feel nothing at all.
"They're not toxic until they're broken down into their byproducts,"
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON said.
If the "bad alcohol" was mixed with the usual stuff people drink
at parties -- spirits, wine or beer -- then the symptoms would
be delayed, she added, because kidneys first break down the non-toxic
alcohol.
Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain,
shortness of breath or difficulty breath or vision changes, said
Willi KIRENKO, a nurse practitioner.
She said only people who were at either address and drank an
alcoholic beverage should be concerned.
People experiencing symptoms will have blood work taken and will
know in about 30 minutes how serious their condition is,
KIRENKO
said
She urged people to take the warning seriously.
"The treatment for this… is time sensitive," she said.
Poison control has been helping direct the hospital with treatment.
Treatment includes dialysis -- one of the effects of drinking
something such as windshield-washer fluid is kidney failure --
and intravenous fluids,
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON said.
"It's very serious. We could save your life, but you could have
permanent blindness… If all the byproducts haven't been made
by the time you go to the hospital, we can delay the formation
of the byproducts. (But) we can't reverse the problems," she
said.
If You Where There
Police ask anyone who was at either address -- 1300 Vidler Ave.
or 857 Mariners Rd., in Erieau -- during the holidays to contact
Chatham-Kent police at 519-436-6616 and go to the nearest emergency
department.
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