Riverside General Hospital’s ER doctors collapsed and fell sick after operating on a woman in 1994. This is the case of Gloria Ramirez, who had cervical cancer. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital as she became critical.
Her cancer was late-stage, and she had shallow breathing and heart palpitations. Moreover, her blood pressure was too low. The mother of two was quickly transferred to the ER as staff began preparing to treat her.
It wasn’t long before unsettling warning signs appeared: her skin bore an oily sheen, and her breath carried a strange, fruity, garlicky scent. Overlooking the significance of these clues, the medical team focused on her heart palpitations, attempting to stabilize her with medication and a defibrillator. Then another strange thing happened. When the nurses drew blood from her, they saw a dark red fluid with an ammonia-like scent. There were tiny crystals in the syringe vial, floating around.
After the fumes spread into the room, the staff felt dizzy and confused. Their faces started burning, and some of them collapsed. Another employee had a headache, muscle spasm, and shortness of breath. A full evacuation was announced to contain the contamination.
Following the incident, 23 emergency room staff members began experiencing unusual symptoms and were required to seal their clothing and personal items in biohazard bags. Meanwhile, a specialized crew in hazmat suits arrived at the hospital to assist Ramirez.
“I’d never seen anything like it.”
— Dr. Humberto Ochoa, ER department head, Riverside General Hospital, Latimes
Despite their exhaustive efforts to perform CPR and deliver emergency treatment, she was ultimately pronounced dead at 08:50 p.m. The official cause of her death was kidney failure due to cancer, but the real cause of the panic in the ER was still a mystery. An investigation was launched to determine what had happened. They had a few theories, such as mass hysteria, chemical reaction, and the medication that Ramirez was using.
Although the initial psychological hypothesis lacks strong evidence, the observed chemical reaction may be attributed to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), which the patient may have administered as a topical analgesic. She may have used an oil-based medication to ease the pain. The chemical may have been strong enough to be absorbed through her skin. In the hospital, the medication may have reacted with other chemicals and oxygen. But her family denied that she ever used such a medication.
There’s no single theory that has successfully explained the chain of events that day. Lastly, several people claimed that this was a hospital cover-up about something else that happened that day. But there was no chemical evidence after her death. The family and hospital staff filed a lawsuit against the hospital, but it was dropped later.
This medical mystery is often shared on social media, leaving the viewers in shock. One YouTube viewer asked, “How is it that nothing happened to the paramedics and people who brought her to the hospital??? Strange!!!”
Another one pointed out, “I sincerely believe this story because I have heard of a half dozen cases like this since I was very young, and I’m 65 years old now. I have heard of a few cases like this long before the internet ever came out and was in the newspapers.”
A nurse chimed in, “Being a nurse myself, I know we smell lots of chemicals, dead, awful smells. Hysteria? Insulting. It was something real.” Another one added, “I remember hearing of this strange case when it happened in 94. It is suspected that a medication she was given as a topical ointment may have reacted somehow with the air, giving off toxic fumes.”
Disclaimer: Inquisitr individually could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public video record.
