Carbon monoxide leak at Montreal school sends 43 to hospital
MONTREAL — Carbon monoxide levels in the hallways of a Montreal elementary school where 43 people fell ill Monday and required hospital treatment were as much as five times the level that usually triggers an evacuation, a fire official said.
“At 35 [parts per million] of carbon monoxide in the air, we evacuate a building,” Éric Martel, an operations chief with the Montreal fire department, told the Canadian Press. Inside the École des Découvreurs in the city’s LaSalle borough, firefighters detected up to 175 parts per million in the hallways — and 900 in the furnace room.
Martel said a defective heating system was to blame for the gas, which left dozens of students and staff feeling nausea and dizziness. Some were vomiting, and an emergency-room physician said nine children lost consciousness at the school.
On Monday afternoon, the Montreal Children’s Hospital reported that 10 patients who received the most serious exposure — including the nine who lost consciousness — had been transferred to another area hospital to receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The treatment involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room.
“The good news is all of these patients are in stable condition. … These are precautionary measures, and we expect that they will be released healthy very shortly,” Dr. Robert Barnes, the hospital’s associate director of professional services, said.
In addition to the 10 transferred for hyperbaric therapy, one child was being kept overnight at the Montreal Children’s Hospital for oxygen therapy and observation.
The hospital had declared a code orange, which is used for an emergency situation with multiple victims, about 12:30 p.m.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can result in coma or death, but emergency room physician Dominic Chalut said there are no signs of acute danger for the students treated at the hospital.
In total, 35 children and eight adults were transported to hospitals from the school.
Ste-Justine hospital, the city’s other pediatric facility, reported that it received 22 students, none of whom was in serious condition.
The school will remain closed today as additional air quality tests are conducted.