Hospital lifts ER quarantine after 5 develop hallucinations

Entrance to hospital emergency department at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. The sign is red with the word EMERGENCY prominently displayed. It can be used to illustrate various healthcare, medical and emergency concepts, from afflictions such as stroke or heart attack, diseases such as HIV or cancer, and accidents such as road trauma or sporting injury. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

COOS BAY, Ore. – A hospital in Coos Bay has lifted a quarantine of its emergency room after a 78-year-old patient, her caregiver, two sheriff's deputies and a hospital employee all developed hallucinations.

The Coos Bay World reported Wednesday that authorities have not yet pinpointed what caused the episodes, but they believe it was something spread by direct contact. The sheriff's department says one possibility is a medicated patch.

The bizarre incident began around 3 a.m. when the elderly woman's caregiver called authorities to say people were vandalizing her car.

A responding deputy found nothing. The caregiver called back at 5:30 a.m. and was taken to the hospital after deputies decided she needed medical help.

Later, the two deputies who helped the caregiver, the caregiver's patient and a hospital staffer all developed symptoms.