Eleven members of an Amish family in Pennsylvania were hospitalized after consuming wild toxic mushrooms, as reported by a voluntary fire department. The incident took place in Peach Bottom Township, Delta, where emergency services responded to a call about a “mass casualty” on a Friday evening. The family had found the mushrooms in the woods and had them for dinner.
Nine children and two adults were taken to the hospital after ingesting the poisonous mushrooms. The youngest affected was a one-year-old infant, according to Southern York County EMS chief Laura Taylor. The family comprised of a man, a woman, and their nine children, ranging in age from 1 to 39. The township is located north of Baltimore, Maryland, on the western bank of the Susquehanna River.
Upon arrival, emergency services found only 10 patients at the scene, as the eleventh family member, who was also unwell, had walked half a mile to a phone booth to call 911 for help. The Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company Station 57 confirmed that all 11 individuals had ingested toxic mushrooms and were unwell, with six EMS vehicles transporting them to the hospital for treatment.
Following the incident, all eleven patients were released from the hospital, as per the Southern York County EMS. Poisonous mushrooms can lead to severe illness and fatalities if consumed, as outlined in a medical journal published by the CDC. The Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company Station 57 has not provided further comments regarding the situation.