In an incident labeled as a “mass casualty event,” five individuals, including three children, were transported to hospitals, and an additional three people received treatment following a potential electrical incident in the fountain area at Harbourside Place on a Sunday afternoon.
The incident, originally believed to involve a possible drowning, was reported at 3:33 p.m. at 149 Soundings Ave.
The Jupiter police department was the first to arrive at the scene and provided assistance to the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue team during the emergency.
Jupiter officers, along with some onlookers, were offering assistance when the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue team arrived. They identified several patients requiring evaluation for potential injuries.
“Evidently, somebody had gone into the water and started having some distress,” spokesman Capt. Tom Reyes stated at the scene. “Some other people went into to try to remove them from the water. It appears as though there may have been an electrocution in the water itself.”
The fire rescue team declared it a mass casualty incident, which occurs when there are five to nine patients, prompting hospitals to be notified and additional units dispatched to the station.
Due to severe cardiac distress, the three children needed to be transported to a trauma center.
Florida Power and Light staff were summoned to the location and electricity was turned off.
The status of the patients remains undisclosed, as PBCFR refrains from disclosing conditions due to privacy regulations. Jupiter police have not provided an update on their status either.
Reyes noted that encountering both a potential drowning and an electrocution is not a “common” occurrence.
Reyes stated that, “You treat a drowning different than an electrocution and there are protocols for an MCI.”
Over the weekend, PBCFR conducted an Initial Company Operations Class for Surface Water Rescue in the Boynton Inlet, known for its formidable currents in Palm Beach County. Additionally, teams engaged in dive training at the Port of Palm Beach.
