Carbon Monoxide Leak In Baltimore Apartment Sends Seven To Hospital

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Posted on 30th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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A carbon monoxide leak in a Baltimore apartment resulted in seven people being sent to the hospital Sunday, according to The Baltimore Sun.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-carbon-monoxide-20120129,0,6184580.story

The Baltimore Fire Department was called to the scene, an apartment on Edgewood Road, when someone reported an odor in the building. Residents said they had headaches, and authorities determined that the carbon monoxide level was 60 parts per million, The Baltimore Sun reported. That’s a high enough level to cause symptoms to those exposed to it.

Four residents were sent to the University of Maryland and three to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment. Their exposure wasn’t life-threatening, according to the local newspaper. 

Fire officials hadn’t found the cause of the carbon monoxide leak.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

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Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sends 13 To The Hospital In Wisconsin

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Posted on 28th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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A leak  from a forklift Thursday led to 13 employees at Chippewa Bi Products in Wisconsin being sent to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, according to WQOW-TV. The incident took place at the rendering facility near Alma Center.

http://www.wqow.com/story/16609083/10-employees-hospitalized-following-possible-co-poisoning

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release that said it got a call asking that EMTs be dispatched to Chippewa Bi Products at 9:50 a.m. Thursday. The person who called said that at least one person had passed out, and no one knew why.

 Alma Center firefighters, and EMTs from Alma Center and Black River Falls, came to the scene. They determined that several employees have been overcome by carbon monoxide.

The sheriff’s office said that 10 people had to be taken to Black River Memorial Hospital,  but WQOW reported that 13 were transported there. According to the TV station, four victims were later transported to other hospitals for treatment, and nine were treated and released. 

Propane forklifts were  being used in the Chippewa Bi Products building where the employees got ill, and authorities believe one of the forklifts had a mechanical problem and released the toxic carbon monoxide fumes.

In turn, Chippewa Bi Products said that it has carbon monoxide detectors, and that one did go off Thursday.

The plant did reopen after the incident Thursday, with the company saying it had retified the problem with the forklift.

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
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Boston Mother And Three Children Hospitalized For Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

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Posted on 24th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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A Boston mother and her three sons, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, were hospitalized Monday morning, according to The Boston Globe.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/01/23/four-hyde-park-residents-taken-hospital-suffering-from-carbon-monoxide-exposure/ECAeoiyfWFieW7n6g7CBnM/story.html

The four victims, who live in the Hyde Park section, had to be transported from their home at Warren Avenue to Massachusetts General Hospital at roughly 8 a.m., The Globe reported.

Two of the victims of the potentially lethal gas were in serious condition, and the other two were stable. 

Firefighters came to the scene in response to a report about an unconscious person, TheBostonChannel.com reported.  The unconscious victim was a boy. He, two other boys and their mother were all taken to the hospital.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/30276647/detail.html

What’s perplexing about the incident is that the owner of the home, Jen Louisia, told TheBostonChannel.com that he had called 911 the day before after a carbon monoxide detector sounding off. Firefighters came to investigate, but they told Louisia not to worry about the alarm going off, that he just needed to change the battery.

Fire officials now suspect that a faulty boiler was the likely source of the carbon monoxide leak, but they don’t know why investigators hadn’t found high carbon monoxide levels in the house on Saturday.  

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
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Carbon Monoxide Sickens 42 Midshipmen At Long Island Merchant Marine Academy

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Posted on 10th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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In one of the largest cases of carbon monoxide poisoning that we recall, 42 students at the Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island, N.Y., this weekend were hospitalized following a leak of the lethal gas, according to The Los Angeles Times.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/01/carbon-monoxide-leak-sickens-42-midshipmen-on-long-island.html

A spokewoman for North Shore University Hospital told The Times that eight of the students, called midshipmen, were treated at her facility after being brought there at 11 p.m. Sunday. They were released about four hours later. The rest of the students, who are being trained to be officers in the merchant marine, were taken to other medical facilities for treatment.

Authorities suspect that a faulty water heater was responsible for the carbon monoxide leak, The Times reported.

Recently there was a recall of Navien water heaters, because of a faulty hose connection that could lead to a carbon monoxide leak. But there was no mention of what type of water heater the academy had. 

The academy is located in Kings Point, some 20 miles from New York City.

The Times quoted several statistics about carbon monoxide poisoning from the Centers for Disease Control in its story. Carbon monoxide accounts for more than 20,000 emergency visits each year. In additon, 4,000 are hospitalized and 400 die from exposure to the colorless, odorless gas. 

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
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Green Bay Hotel Had Lethal Carbon Monoxide Levels In Leak That Sent 16 To The Hospital

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Posted on 7th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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The Hilton Garden Inn in Green Bay is apparently still keeping mum about a carbon monoxide leak a week ago that lead to about 16 people going to the hospital. At least, that what the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported Friday.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012201060552

The newspaper did a follow-up story that published information from the Green Bay Fire Department’s report on the carbon monoxide incident at 1015 Lombardi Ave. Apparently, there was no mention in the report of whether the hotel had carbon monoxide detectors, as required by Wisconsin state law.

According to the records, EMTs got to the Hilton Garden Inn at 9 p.m. on Dec. 30. They found four people, including several children, who had the classic symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: headaches, nausea and vomiting.

Then more hotel guests came forward and complained of having similar symptoms, the Press-Gazette reported. Firefighters said that two sick people were transported to a hospital by ambulance, a 17-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman. In addition, roughly 14 others went to the hospital in private vehicles.

The fire report on the incident said that high levels of carbon monoxide were found in a swimmng pool area, a workout room, a mechanical room, a stairway and several restrooms, according to the Press-Gazette.

The newspaper stated that fire officials found carbon monoxide levels up to 800 parts per million near the pool and 957 parts per million in an equipment room. Those readings soar above the carbon monoxide level that sometimes prompts the evacuation of buildings: 9 parts per million.

Firefighters pulled the plug on any potential sources of carbon monoxide, ventilated the hotel and had hotel employees check on other occupants at the 123-room facility.  The fire crew left the scene about 11:30 p.m.

If the Green Bay Fire Department report said anything about carbon monoxide detectors, then the Press-Gazette didn’t mention it. And we doubt that. 

Hilton Garden Inn general manager Michelle Lang declined to comment to the Press-Gazette. Maybe that answers the question about the carbon monoxide detectors. 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
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New Hampshire Target Store Evacuated For High Carbon Monoxide Levels, 17 Employees Treated

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Posted on 5th January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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A Target store in Keene, N.H., had to be evacuated Tuesday due to high levels of carbon monoxide, and 17 employees were taken to local hospitals, according to the Keene Sentinel.

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/carbon-monoxide-detected-at-keene-department-store/article_b3ecb24d-fd45-5d78-9cea-fb74f1762fdf.html

Fire officials came to the Target after getting a call from an employee, who was complaining of smelling an odd odor, at about 12:40 p.m. Firefighters measured a high level of carbon monoxide at the store, and evacuated the building. Some 44 Target employees were tested for carbon monoxide poisoning at the scene, the Keene Sentinel reported.  

It turned out that 11 of those employees were sent to Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and four of them had high enough levels of the potentially fatal gas to be diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the local newspaper. 

Six other employees who had left the Target on Ash Brook Road before firefighters arrived went to hospitals on their own to get treatment.

The source of the carbon monoxide was a gas-powered cutting machine that was in the Target in the morning cutting out pieces of its concrete floor as part of a renovation, according to the Keene Sentinel. Fire authorities believe that the store wasn’t properly ventilated when that work was done, or when workers took out the concrete slabs with a tractor.  

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
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Four Hospitalized For Suspected Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Green Bay Hotel

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Posted on 3rd January 2012 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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In the second unfortunate case of this type I’ve seen recently, four guests — including two children – at the Hilton Garden Inn  in Green Bay were hospitalized for apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Friday, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20111231/GPG0101/111231024/4-taken-hospital-after-suspected-carbon-monoxide-leak-Lambeau-area-hotel

The incident happened at the hotel near Lambeau Field at 1015 Lombardi Ave. And this isn’t the first near-tragedy of its kind in Green Bay: I am currently handling a lawsuit that involves carbon monoxide poisoning of patrons at a Days Inn located in that city.  

In the case at the Hilton Garden Inn,  the two children who became sick were in the vicinity of the hotel’s swimming pool, according to the Press Gazette. Those poor kids were taken to the hospital by ambulance, while the  two adults who became ill from their exposure to carbon monoxide were transported by private cars.

Green Bay fire officials are blaming a heating system malfunction for the carbon monoxide leak. There were high levels of carbon monoxide not only in the room where the heating system was located, but in the pool area, as well.

Officials at the Hilton Garden Inn couldn’t be reached for comment by the Press Gazette. And maybe there’s a reason for that. The reporter would have asked them the same question that authorities, and I, would have asked: Does your hotel have carbon monoxide detectors? And if it does, why weren’t there any near the pool?

There are 25 states that require installation of carbon monoxide detectors in various kinds of residential and public buildings, including Wisconsin. And Wisconsin requires them in hotels.

Here is what the Wisconsin law mandates:

“Requires installation of carbon monoxide detectors in certain areas of residential buildings (defined as a tourist rooming hosue, a bed and breakfast, or any public building that is used for sleeping or lodging purposes).  Sets forth installation requirements, obligations and liabilities for owners of such residential buildings.” 

http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=13238

If the Hilton Garden Inn had carbon monoxide detectors, why did four people get sick Friday night? And if the hotel had them, why were there none by the pool? Or did it have them, but they weren’t functioning properly?

And if the hotel didn’t have them, it would appear to be in violation of state law.

Either way, something went terribly wrong.

 

    

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://carbonmonoxide-poisoning.com
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