A part-time security and housekeeping worker was found dead at a western Pennsylvania surgical hospital earlier this week from an apparent overdose of an unidentified inhalational anesthetic.
An investigation into the death of Samuel William Parks, 29, is currently on hold pending toxicology results, but local law enforcement officials tell reporters they've ruled out foul play and believe his death to be an accident.
A bottle of inhalational anesthesia was found next to Mr. Parks' body when hospital workers went looking for him Sunday morning. He'd been working an overnight shift at Advanced Surgical Hospital in North Franklin, Pa., a primarily outpatient facility that's been open for about a year.
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco says that Mr. Parks died sometime between 3 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday and that the inhaled anesthetic "is suspected to be involved," but the results of the toxicology tests are needed to confirm that suspicion.
"It was an apparent accidental death and we would ask that everyone be respectful of the Parks family and respectful of our staff who are in mourning," hospital CEO Lloyd Scarrow, who reportedly found Mr. Parks Sunday morning, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Irene Tsikitas
