 "Photo: Hilary Stohs-Krause")
 "Photo: Hilary Stohs-Krause")
Pound residents are back in their rooms after reports of a chemical lab sent one student to the hospital and prompted police to evacuate the hall's second floor.
At 6:07 p.m., police received a 911 call of a possible overdose poisoning on the second floor of Pound Residence Hall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
UNL Police arrived at the hall at 6:10 and a hazardous material team arrived by 6:14.
Residents of Pound 2 were evacuated to the lobby at about 6:15, and were later told to move to Cather Hall. The other residents of Pound were put in a lockdown and could not leave their floor.
"I thought it was a joke," said Charles Rice, a sophomore electrical engineering major and Pound 2 resident.
Rice was watching the Super Bowl in his room when he heard someone bang loudly on his door and yell for everyone to get off the floor.
When he opened the door and realized it was a fireman who had been knocking, he knew it was no joke.
Courtney Hall, a junior elementary education major who lives on Pound 7, went down the elevator to the Pound lobby after hearing sirens and seeing emergency vehicles outside.
"The fireman told us 'now that you're down, you can't go back up,'" she said, "and shut off the elevator and blocked the steps."
Carl Oestmann, director of patrol operations for UNL Police, said a 19-year-old male student was taken from Pound 2 on a stretcher and is now in stable condition at a Lincoln hospital, which one he did not name.
Police found hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous chemical that can come as a solid, liquid or vapor, and can sometimes be made using household chemicals.
The substance was not volatile, Oestmann said, and hazardous materials officials has removed the material in question.
No one else on the floor was affected by the substance, although one UNL officer sought precautionary medical treatment, Oestmann said.
Residents gathered in Cather's lobby to watch the Super Bowl while waiting to be allowed to return to their rooms.
"I'm hoping I'm not going to have to find somewhere else to sleep," said Tom Hammett, a sophomore athletic training major.
Hammett lives on Pound 10, but was watching the game on Pound 2 when they were evacuated.
"I'm not too worried," he said. "I guess if it were worse, they'd have evacuated the whole building."
At 7:51, Pound Hall was reopened and residents were allowed back up to their rooms.
UNL decided not to issue a UNL Alert for the incident because it was a local, isolated event, said Kelly Bartling, manager of news for UNL.
"UNL Alert is a widespread and broad communication," Bartling said. "In this case, the more effective way to communicate was to use local communication."
By 8:15, students were back on Pound 2, watching the end of the big game.
Hall and her friend Nicki Gaswick, a sophomore math major, were both stuck out of their rooms during the incident.
"We shouldn't be so curious," Hall said with a laugh.
"I'll take my shoes and phone next time," Gaswick said.
carriebrauer@dailynebraskan.com
jennagibson@dailynebraskan.com
What is hydrogen cyanide?
According to the Centers for Disease Control:
Hydrogen cyanide (AC) is a systemic chemical asphyxiant.
It interferes with the normal use of oxygen by nearly every organ of the body.
Exposure to hydrogen cyanide (AC) can be rapidly fatal. It has whole-body (systemic) effects, particularly affecting those organ systems most sensitive to low oxygen levels: the central nervous system (brain), the cardiovascular system (heart and blood vessels), and the pulmonary system (lungs).
Hydrogen cyanide (AC) is a chemical warfare agent (military designation, AC). It is used commercially for fumigation, electroplating, mining, chemical synthesis, and the production of synthetic fibers, plastics, dyes, and pesticides.
Hydrogen cyanide (AC) gas has a distinctive bitter almond odor (others describe a musty "old sneakers smell"), but a large proportion of people cannot detect it; the odor does not provide adequate warning of hazardous concentrations. It also has a bitter burning taste and is often used as a solution in water.
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