First aid for a unique acid, HF: A sequel

pital after an exposure to hydrofluoric acid. Belk owned a company called Chemical Packaging near Atlanta, GA, which produced solutions for high-pressure washing. At the time of the accident, Belk was mixing a solu-tion when a hose slipped out, saturat-ing his clothes with 70 % hydrofluoric acid. He hosed off with water, but rather than have his secretary call the paramedics, he drove himself to the hospital! Burns were found on both lower legs and his left arm, but it was the HF which went through his skin that caused his death the following day from respiratory and heart fail-ure.1 The above accident, which occurred just before submission of this paper, illustrates a dire consequence of work-ing with hydrofluoric acid without awareness of its extreme hazards and lack of preparedness. From the nu-merous queries I personally have re-ceived after publication of my first pa-per in 1998,2 I conclude that there are still many more who could use infor-mation. And from a recent spate of inquiries on the SAFETY listserve, it appears that many have not estab-lished a protocol for HF exposure or heard of the current recommended methods of treatment. So a review/ update to my first paper seems appro-priate. In this sequel I want to discuss: I. Review of HF hazards II. Emergency procedure