EAST HARLEM — A foul odor at a school for podiatrists choked students and caused an evacuation Thursday afternoon, officials said.
Two people were taken to the hospital as a precaution and a dozen more suffered respiratory irritation after a person sprayed a "personal care product" that was accidently sucked into a vent and circulated through New York College of Podiatric Medicine on East 124th Street about 11:30 a.m., fire officials, students and a school spokesman said.
More than a dozen patients and several third-year medical students at the college started coughing on the clinic side of the building, students told DNAinfo New York.
Caitlin Miner, 25, had just finished giving a patient an x-ray when she started coughing.
“I was concerned,” Miner said. “I couldn’t breathe in. When I did, I coughed.”
She said about 10 patients in the waiting room were also coughing.
“It wasn’t going away. It was spreading pretty fast.”
Responders quickly evacuated patients, staff and students from the college.
The two patients were taken to Harlem Hospital in stable condition, a fire department spokesman said.
There were 12 other people who refused medical attention at the scene.
A school spokesman said a student used a deodorant-like spray near the college's gym, which was then sucked into a vent and circulated through part of the building.
Emergency responders blocked off the street while the Emergency Service Unit, FDNY responders and Office of Emergency Management investigated, a police spokeswoman said.
The air was deemed safe at about 1:26 p.m. and people were allowed to reenter the building.
