Over a five-year period, more than 9,600 firefighters, paramedics and students were exposed to a deadly toxin at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Center for Domestic Preparedness in Alabama due to an oversight in ordering, according to USA Today.
None of the trainees became ill from the exposure, according to the report.
Since 2011, the federal bioterrorism response training center has been using a lethal form of ricin powder, which has no antidote. The center thought it was using a less lethal version of the substance, even though the products were accurately labeled for what they were, according to the report.
The training center halted training with biological agents and FEMA called for an investigation from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, according to the report. The center blamed the mistake on a documentation error with its vendor.
Read the full report here.
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