PEACH BOTTOM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WJW) – A Pennsylvania family of 11, including nine children, were all hospitalized after ingesting toxic mushrooms Friday night.
According to a Facebook post from Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company Station 57, the department was alerted to assist multiple EMS units on the 200 block of Burke Road in Peach Bottom Township just before 9:40 p.m.
According to the fire department, 11 people who were ill after ingesting toxic mushrooms were taken to the hospital in what they called a “mass casualty incident.”
According to WGAL, those hospitalized were members of an Amish family and included a man, a woman and nine children.
According to WGAL, the family told first responders they picked and ate wild mushrooms. After they began feeling sick, one of the family members walked about half a mile to call 911.
According to WGAL, all of the family members have been treated and released from the hospital.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “the symptoms of poisoning can vary from gastrointestinal discomfort to liver failure and death, depending on the type of toxin ingested.”
It can be difficult to identify poisonous mushrooms. The Cleveland Clinic recommends that people do not consume any wild mushrooms that have not been identified by an expert.