Authorities announced that some parts of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center from San Jose were shut down on Thursday because of a chemical exposure scare, which had been later confirmed to have been hydrogen sulfide. An 18-year-old teenager was brought to the ER after he had been exposed to the substance, which made himlose his consciousness.

According to a fire captain, the teenager was listed to be in a very critical condition and the entire emergency room wing of the hospital was closed because of the incident. Apparently, the 18-year-old was brought to the hospital without being decontaminated at first, thus making the doctors and the hospital personnel believe that they might be also exposed to the hydrogen sulfide.

As the hospital officials announced, at least 37 employees at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center might have been exposed to the substance which had brought the teen in such a critical condition. In addition, other 46 patients were in the same exposure condition.

It all happened on Thursday at about 8:05 a.m. when a 911 call about a possible suicide was made at a house from Yucca Avenue, near Foxworthy and Meridian Avenues. The firefighters were quickly sent to the place, which they said it smelled noxious. According to Capt. Barry Stallard, the firefighters found the teenager lying on the floor while his mother was standing over him.

Stallard added that they had found two pans containing an unidentified chemical on the table while the bedroom window was widely opened. Officials later discovered that the chemical was hydrogen sulfide, a sewer gas which is flammable and toxic if it’s used in high concentrations. Yet, nobody could establish what the boy was doing with the substance.

The mother of the boy was decontaminated at the scene and six houses in the area had been evacuated.