Officials: At Least 10 Sick From Area McDonalds
POSTED: 5:54 p.m. EDT October 3, 2004
PIQUA, Ohio -- Calls flood the Miami County Emergency Dispatch Center with people complaining of food poisoning.
Piqua fire investigators say the source of the problem was a Mcdonald's restaurant on US 36 near I-75.
The calls came in between 3-7pm Saturday evening.
There were at least 10 ambulance calls, according to dispatchers, everyone was complaining of the same symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, and they all said they had eaten at the McDonald's on US 36 in Piqua.
Dispatchers say they took so many calls -- the emergency room at the Upper Valley Medical Center became overloaded.
Operators contacted the Piqua Fire Department, who then contacted the health department.
They were able to determine that the common denominator among all of these people complaining was that they had eaten at the same McDonald's.
The people affected ranged in age from 3 to 80 years old.
In one case, two women were found passed out in a bathroom at a Walmart store in Troy.
They too had eaten at the same McDonald's.
Fire investigators say the advice they're giving other possible victims is keep hydrated.
It should run its course in 12 to 16 hours -- there are no antibiotics that can be taken to help this.
Newscenter 7 did speak with the management of the McDonald's.
They did say they had stopped serving any dairy or ice cream products.
Copyright 2004 by WHIOTV.com