Pungent Urine Smell Causes VA Medical Center Evacuation
A pungent urine smell was the cause of a sudden evacuation of the Hampton VA Medical Center Wednesday.
Officials swiftly ordered the evacuation of the facility’s mental health building when a pungent smell was noted by staff. After firefighters rushed to the facility, it was learned the source of the smell was urine.
No one knows if the urine sample was mixed with anything to make the smell strong enough to warrant that level of alarm. A hazmat team collected a sample and sent it to a lab in Richmond, VA for analysis.
Over 100 patients and staff were evacuated after the smell was detected shutting down operations for a few hours.
No one was obviously harmed by the smelly urine, but I would be most people reading this article are wondering what the veteran drank the night before.
Taquisa Simmons, interim medical center director, said the source of the smell was a veteran’s urine.
“We reassured all of our employees here that safety is very important and we value each and every employee so we immediately evacuated the building,” Simmons said.
Hampton VA Readiness
As silly as this story may seem, the good news is that the facility was able to swiftly evacuate patients and staff after noting an unusual smell. This is great for two reasons.
First, it means the facility takes evacuation drills seriously.
Second, it means the facility leadership takes hazmat related issues very seriously even if it means shutting down a facility for a few hours. The hazmat team checked air quality at least twice before giving an “all-clear” for the facility.
Hampton VA is not alone with smelly urine resulting in an evacuation. In 2016, an apartment building in Amherst, MA, was evacuated when one tenant cooked his urine.
About Hampton VA. The Hampton VA Medical Center is a 468-bed facility serving over a veteran population of more than 220,000 veterans. It is the fourth oldest facilities in the VA health care system, established in 1870.
Pungent Urine Smell
Mayo Clinic says smelly urine generally is the result of dehydration causing a strong ammonia smell. Other sources of unusual urine odor include:
- Cystitis (bladder inflammation)
- Dehydration
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Gastrointestinal-bladder fistula (abnormal connection between the intestines and bladder)
- Maple syrup urine disease (rare genetic condition that becomes apparent during infancy)
- Metabolic disorder (a problem with the way your body converts the foods you eat into energy)
- Type 2 diabetes (uncontrolled)
- Urinary tract infection (UTI)
The whole system a joke fought for your freedom a dellusion too. Ben should look at the postal mail cover program . goverment scans all your mail to see who u associate with
Namnibor,
Thanks again, I get it. I never go to the meetings or get the hats, though they are better than the vso at va. If that made any sense at all. LOL. All I could figure without anywhere to turn. VA tells you to go to SSID, and SSID tells you you are too young and don’t have enough years to go through them. (am almost 6:0). Congressmen are a joke, they played around with us for a few years, and had a good laugh, and we got an attourney who laughed all the way to the bank with our last 12K. I will look at your suggestion, and remain quiet, and seated, until I can figure out my next move, have no where to go but up from here! :0) thanks for your kindness though.
Many years ago in the basement, I could smell that very same smell in The Hampton VA, a Veteran on a D. Machine saw me pass the door while he was lying on the table and raised up his head as to say help me….I will never get that sight Out of my mind….VA System Needs an Overhaul and a Careful system of who they hire….
Crystal Meth can cause toxic smelling urine.
VAMC Northport, NY (Long Island): May 7 2019 – sewer pipe in basement of Bldg. #12 experienced a blowout. Raw sewage flooded the basement. Nobody evacuated. This building house what’s left of our Medical Library and the Facility’s IT Department. Many complaints. Management suddenly developed a hearing problem!
Piss on them all. This what was learned 70 percent whistle blowers gone in a year . No one held accountable they will destroy your life and retaliated.not worth speaking up unless you want your life to be hell
How did Taquisa know it was a veteran urine and not one of her balboian va slackers?
On a different note…is it normal to get harassed constantly as you wait on your *forever* compensation claim to be approved? I am getting it from online, from VA evidence intake and local regional. Is there anything that can stop them?
Also, can they intentionally stop giving you your meds *they need to be accountable to do something*if you don’t care to see their only specialist who is abusive with their position? Just looking for the correct way, if there is any to redress these actions. Thanks.
Addendum, they are aware of the civilian primary I have had to get on account of their lack of treatment from the start. Thanks.
In a nutshell the VA is the very definition of passive-aggressive, on steroids.
“N”—Message below intended for you, very bad neuropathy morning.
Hello, ‘N’, might want a o checkout another great site for Veterans about comp claims w VA, called hadit dot com, and the harassment is a never ending gobstopper of hungry hippos, and dare you raise voice, complain, they’ll even potentially place any Veteran on a Disruptive Behavior Committee list where your required to be escorted by VA Barney Cops when you’re allowed back on VA property, so it’s best to not encourage them and instead, arm yourself with knowledge….hadit dot com is the trail….
Namnibor,
Thanks, and they are a foolish mess.(to be nice). I barely avoided that in 2012, I was so shocked at the rejection of (service to their veteran). I am still amazed but skirting their provocation nowadays. It is so counter (anything, everything) civil and otherwise. I had to get healthcare elsewhere, too much for me to deal with, excruciating pain. It is a culture all to itself to be sure. But for them to be able to fool around with my completed claim, and keep dragging me into dr appointments, then say it wasnt needed. Also requesting records that they already have. and so I comply and complain to DAV, as they are my reps. I will look into that website, thank you for hearing me out. Appreciate it. (alot). take care.
FYI- I never used any VSO group of funny hatters for my eventual successful VA claim, I wielded myself with knowledge from that website shared with you above, all while knocking hard on deaths door and filing SSDI at same time.
Even towards end of 3 years got a helpful senator to light a fire under asses.
Tenacity is required and know that the VSO groups have mostly been found so far up the VA’s ass like a codependent barnacle, that the tassel from their funny hats dangling from the VA’s asshole like a demented hemmorhioid, is not generally all that motivated let alone timelier filing of documents or even not that knowledgeable about a disabled veteran trying to make a claim….not all are crap but it’s been in article after years on just Ben’s site here the human greed trumps the needs of veterans but hey, cheap drinks at their lodges, even gambling, and great hats….indifference and nepotism…your mileage may vary but I’m barely living proof you can do it yourself providing you have docs that connect your service-connection/nexus.
The search option on hadit dot com is your best friend, no funny fats or hats either?
I am baffled how they could tell the difference from the normal urine smell found at several VAs.
As for quick Evac, I suspect that is more of an issue of concern for employees than safety of veteran patients. OSHA protects employees whereas veterans are on their own. I wonder how many veterans were left behind to self Evac or have another veteran help them get out.
It reminds me of the Milwaukee VA some years ago when Secretary Brown was there. The urine smell was strong in one area coming from a restroom. It was all you could do to hold your breath long enough to use the restroom, if you were brave enough to go past the feces encrusted walls.
Finally, its possible the veteran likes asparagus.
On another note. Ben, are you aware of any VA program offering maternity coordination care for female veterans?
The Grand Junction VAMC announced on their Facebook page they are now offering maternity coordination care to female veterans. The VA is now coordinating maternity care through pregnancy and even after.
Does this mean they are coordinating care in the community with private doctors?
Yet I can’t even get timely, proper care from responsible VA doctors for service connected conditions.
Yea but they neglect to tell female veterans, that your maternity care could turn into infant-toddler-daycare. Depending how long your wait time is?????✝️
Next cry for cash to Congress critters will be some huge contract for Case Loaders to manufacture evac automatic maneuvering designer office chairs so they never have to leave that chair, it zips them right out to the employee parking close to building.
A second contract with IBM Watson is required to help Case Loaders develop office chair mechanisms that will freely move a manatee from desk to vending machines.
Third contract to add vending machines to each portal-fatty chair.
Seems like someone must have poured some cleaning solution to the urine and the mixture of both caused those nasty fumes, I accidentally mix 2 different solutions together one time and the fumes and vapors we’re something else, had to open windows to air out the stench it doesn’t take much, but the situation could been worse
It wasn’t incontinence it was incompetents ?
Sounds like the whole place got skunked!
Sounds like a GOLDEN SHOWER went apeshit.
Or a VA Dancing Monkey went apeshit with those bedpans.
The smell at the Cheyenne VAMC was very bad for decades. The mental heath area was the worst. The stains alone looked as if several people were murdered there. They finally replaced the carpet with hardwood flooring. There were several toilet rooms (also known as Rest Rooms) that a Veteran could get very ill in by just walking into one. The worst is the lab toilet room. I have complained for 20 years and still no fix. I even volunteered to show them how to properly clean a latrine and they laughed.
The v.a. is just that evil.
I don’t buy it, somethings else is wrong they are trying to cover up, like faulty plumbing… .
Go to *”military.com”* it has a few articles which may interest everyone.
They need better air flow or exhaust fans if one person pissing is going to set off hazmat alarms. Or Taquisa needs a check-up, or the wind is blowing up in her face. Or is this one of them thar “false flags?” A test/drill in reality? Trying to prove something? Like blaming the fart on the other person or people? What happens when one takes a very smelly poop? Leaky gut or leaking Clos bags? Call out SWAT, CDC and go to DEFCON 1? Was it some good ol’ fashion pee/urine therapy that caused the commotion? I’ve smelled nasty ass perfume on some varmints that should have set off fire or sniffer alarms.. but that’s okay, while we gag and get migraines from that crap.
Me and the dogs gotta go kill some weeds and pee. Mark out territory.
No worries: This was just VA Nurse Constance Incontinence in need of a new depends change.
“[…Taquisa Simmons, interim medical center director, said the source of the smell was a veteran’s urine.]”— Did she taste-test that urine to be certain and what degree does she have in excelling at identifying sources of urine, “Golden Showers Falls University?”
What differentiates a veterans urine from any AFGE minion? Smell alone or was there a taste-test comparison of known pissy veterans?
Damn brother, you beat me to it.
She must have swapped out her soiled diaper with the AC filter
Yep, the Legionaries must have a source after all.
I am pissed off about the Dental Department of the “Michael E.DeBakey,V.A.Medical Center,”
in Houston,Texas.