More than 75 police trainees in Des Moines, Johnston, were hospitalized on Nov. 15 after they were found to have been exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy building.
Just before 6 a.m. on the day, an overnight security officer had called 911 to report an unusual gas odor. He then used an intercom to alert the entire building to evacuate, the Associated Press reported. The police recruits were sleeping at the time.
Soon after, people began to feel ill, showing symptoms such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
While carbon monoxide is an odorlesss gas, companies often add a noxious smell for safety reasons.
Crews from the Johnston Grimes Metropolitan Fire Department arrived just after 6 a.m. By then, the building had been evacuated.
The cadets were first moved to the nearby National Guard building. Nine who experienced severe symptoms were sent immediately to hospital in three ambulances, Lt. Sean McAndrew said, according to the Des Moines Register.
“All of the students were prioritized,” Johnston-Grimes Fire Chief Jim Clark said, reported KCCI. “Those that had symptoms—mostly headache, nausea, lightheadedness and then also had elevated carbon monoxide bleeding readings in their blood—those are the ones (who) were transported first.”
Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Director Judy Bradshaw addresses the media regarding a carbon monoxide incident at the academy. @WHOhd pic.twitter.com/khH4caR2ea
— Randy Schumacher (@Darandar80) November 15, 2018
The academy’s director, Judy Bradshaw, told reporters at a press conference on Nov. 15 that about 70 cadets in total were admitted at nearby hospitals for further treatment, while others were being monitored at numerous hospitals as a precaution.
Hospitals that received the students include the Mercy Medical Center, the Iowa Methodist Medical Center, the Methodist West Hospital, the Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Broadlawns Medical Center, and Mercy West Lakes Medical Center.
More than a dozen of the cadets had to undergo intense therapy at Mercy Medical Center. They went inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to flush out the carbon monoxide, with reach needing three treatments over 18 hours, KCCI reported.
Bradshaw told reporters that there was no carbon monoxide alarm inside the building.
A total of 97 recruits are in training at the academy, but 11 of them weren’t inside the building, because a frozen fan coil pipe had burst and flooded their dorms earlier on Nov. 13, according to Bradshaw, the Register reported.
The high levels of carbon monoxide were later found in the building’s sleeping area and basement. Up to 400 parts per million were detected. Sustained exposure to 150 parts per million of carbon monoxide can be fatal, according to the federal government.
The source of the carbon monoxide has not yet been found.
In March, the academy was granted $12 million to demolish and remodel the building. Bradshaw said this is scheduled to start next summer, according to the Register.
“The timing is really too bad, that this happened before we could get out of the building and get it demolished and remodelled,” she told reporters. “It can’t happen soon enough.”
Last summer, the building had been infested with black mold, according to the Register.
“We weren’t concerned about the safety and health because of the test that we were running, but we also knew that we do have old infrastructure,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw said that all classes for Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 were cancelled and hoped that the classes could resume on Nov. 19. The academy plans to rent space from the nearby National Guard building until the problem is solved.
