Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2007

Officers particularly at risk

Raiding a meth lab is one of the most dangerous — and expensive — things a sheriff’s or fire department does.

In North Carolina in 2003, volunteer firefighter Darien South in Watauga County lost half his lung capacity at a meth lab when he inhaled strong fumes. He was one of 14 North Carolinian first-responders injured in meth labs in the early 2000s.

No one keeps tabs on S.C. police and firefighter meth casualties. But there are examples:

• In 2003, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office chemist James McDonald temporarily was blinded at a meth lab when a glass flask he was handling exploded.

“Severe corneal abrasions left me blind for three days,” said McDonald, who now teaches at Greenville Technical College. “It was a miracle my sight came back.”

• In June, Lexington County deputies sniffed poison fumes while raiding a home in Gaston. Officers entered during a meth “cook.” Minutes later, they fled, throats burning and chests tight. They were treated on the scene.

Meth-induced paranoia makes meth lab scenes even more dangerous for law enforcement:

• In November, Richland County Sheriff’s deputy Capt. Larry Payne was shot twice by a meth cook suspect he happened upon while off duty in woods near Blythewood. Payne recovered, and the suspect was caught and charged.

• In 2002, Dillon County police and SLED found explosives in the car of a Dillon County meth cook, Scott Langdon, according to a federal complaint in the case. Langdon, who was convicted on drug charges, was known to booby-trap his meth labs.

Meth labs are the only crime scenes where:

• Police who process the labs must undergo yearly blood tests to see if they have organ damage.

• Police wear hazmat suits that protect skin and eyes, as well as breathing apparatuses.

• Police must complete a course to be qualified to work the scene.

• Private contractors are hired to carry away toxic meth waste.

• Children are taken into state custody from their meth-making parents, washed and given new clothes. Their blood and urine are tested. Their clothing, pets and toys are left behind because they might contain poisons.

AN EXPLOSION, OTHER RISKS

Meth “cooks” can be paranoid, violent and, sometimes, careless.

One cook apparently caused a problem for a Lexington County garbage collection station.

On Dec. 30, 2004, meth chemicals likely caused an explosion at the station off S.C. 302, authorities said.

An equipment operator compacting trash broke a propane tank in the trash. The operator suffered breathing problems and nausea. He was treated at a hospital, according to a DHEC report.

But meth cooks are also dangerous to themselves.

In 2003, the nationally known Joseph Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta treated two people — apparently cooks or bystanders at meth labs — who had been burned in separate S.C. incidents.

One patient had burns over 20 percent of the body, including the face, and was on a ventilator for eight days, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The other had chemical burns to the neck, chest and arms.