'Mass casualty' incident in Pennsylvania after multiple people are hospitalized after eating 'toxic mushrooms'

Nearly a dozen people were left hospitalized in Pennsylvania on Friday night after consuming "toxic mushrooms".

As reported by CBS News, the Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company, Station 57, revealed on social media that its units had been altered to a "mass casualty incident" after it was "advised that 11 people had ingested toxic mushrooms and were all ill".

Seven ambulance units were quickly dispatched to the scene from York and Lancaster counties in Pennsylvania and Harford County, Maryland. Those affected were then transported to WellSpan York Hospital.

Pennsylvania State Police were also called to the scene.

First responders found 10 out of the 11 family members at the scene. The other individual had walked half a mile down the road to a phone booth in order to call 911. 

Children were reportedly among those who were hospitalized, including a one-year-old, CNN reports.

Authorities have since confirmed that the family were Amish, and consisted of one man, one woman, and nine of their children. They were aged between one and 39 years old.

The family had eaten wild mushrooms "found in the woods". Credit: Albert Fertl / Getty

One of the family members - a resident of the southeastern Pennsylvania’s Peach Bottom Township - informed authorities that the family became sick after they all ate wild mushrooms that one of them had "found in the woods" and "brought home for dinner", per Gregory Fantom, spokesperson for the Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company.

Southern York County Emergency Medical Services Chief Laura Taylor confirmed CNN: "It was wild mushrooms, but the hospital would have to confirm the type."

All 11 patients were treated and released overnight, WHP reports.

Per the Food and Drug Administration, people should take great caution when foraging food. It recommends that people should either consult with a knowledgable expert to properly identify mushrooms that are safe to eat, or simply purchase safe mushrooms from grocery stores or professional mushroom farms.

Additionally, the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control states that there are roughly 250 varieties of poisonous wild mushrooms that can be found in North America.

The National Library of Medicine adds that there are around 6,000 incidents involving toxic mushroom ingestion each year in the US.

Featured image credit: Albert Fertl / Getty