A hazmat incident caused a doctor’s office to be evacuated in Nassau County Tuesday afternoon.
The Floral Park Fire Department received the 911 call around 3 p.m. reporting a spill of mercury in a pediatrician’s office.
Once on scene, Floral Park Fire Chief Eric O’Connor requested the Nassau County Fire Marshal HazMat Division to respond and assist.
Investigators determined that an employee dropped a blood pressure machine down the stairs, which broke open and released mercury onto the staircase.
Staff members at the Allied Physicians office on Jericho Turnpike were evacuated while the hazmat team worked to confine the spilled product and provided appropriate public protective actions.
Due to the nature of the business involved, office personnel were advised to hire an environmental cleanup contractor to remediate the situation to the appropriate EPA guidelines, fire officials say.
Members of the fire marshal’s hazmat unit remained on scene until the contractor arrived to take over.