Rockville, MD – Eleven people were hospitalized for Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning at a construction site in Rockville Monday afternoon.
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Around 2:30 p.m., a male construction worker was located unconscious in a warehouse along the 14900 block of Southlawn Lane, near the Michael & Son SportsPlex. While transporting the man to a local hospital, paramedics detected a high level of CO in his system. Firefighters responded to the warehouse and detected highly unsafe levels of the poisonous gas. At that time, ten additional construction workers reported feelings of dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath.
A medical ambulance bus transported eight of the men to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, which has a hyperbaric oxygen chamber — one of the largest in the region. The other three sickened workers were treated at local hospitals.
CO concentration is measured by a system called Parts Per Million (PPM). According to Pete Peringer, chief spokesman with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, firefighters are typically required to wear oxygen masks when levels are above 30 PPM. During the height of Monday’s HazMat incident, CO detectors were registering anywhere from 400 to 500 PPM. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says CO of that level will easily induce headaches and vomiting, and can be life threatening after three hours of exposure.
Firefighters believe gas powered concrete finishers (see photo) being used inside the warehouse caused the CO build-up. Industrial size fans were used to ventilate the air and make the building safe again.
CO is often referred to as the Silent Killer because of its ability to take lives quickly and quietly. The gas is both odorless and tasteless, and in high levels, can kill within a matter of minutes.
The 11 construction workers sickened Monday are expected to make full recoveries.