Copyright 2006 Syracuse Post Standard
High carbon monoxide level at Syracuse hairstyling institute sickens about 40
By MEGHAN RUBADO
Syracuse Post Standard
About 40 people were transported to local hospitals Friday morning for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty heating system at Phillips Hairstyling Institute in Syracuse, city firefighters said.
Firefighters were called to the building at 709 E. Genesee St. at 11:09 a.m., 911 dispatchers said.
Paramedics and about 25 firefighters set up in the parking lot behind the building and in front of the building to evaluate and begin treating the patients, firefighters said.
A Centro bus drove about two dozen patients with minor symptoms to University Hospital. Ambulances took 15 patients who showed more serious symptoms to University Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, Community General Hospital and Crouse Hospital, said fire Capt. Beau Blair. Firefighters would not release the names of the patients.
None of those stricken were thought to be in serious danger, but a couple of asthmatic individuals required more attention, firefighters said. A few people declined treatment and left the building on their own, Blair said.
A few people drove themselves to University Hospital, where doctors put the patients on oxygen and took blood samples for testing, said Dr. Daniel Olsson, an attending physician. All but one of the University Hospital patients had been released Friday night. One person was kept overnight because of a medical condition that was aggravated by the exposure, Olsson said.
Most of the patients required a quick checkup and a bit of observation before they are released, Deputy Fire Chief George Hart said. Sometimes those exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide need treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, which delivers highly concentrated oxygen to the blood.
“I don’t think that will be used today,” Hart said of the chamber.
The building did not have a carbon monoxide detector, but people inside suspected a problem when they began to feel ill at the same time, Hart said.
Firefighters arrived and tested for carbon monoxide levels. The basement, which contains the building’s heater, had a level of 400 parts per million - the level a chimney normally shows. Firefighters have to wear oxygen masks when they enter areas with a level higher than 50 parts per million, Hart said. Upstairs, the carbon monoxide level was 300 parts per million.
What’s carbon monoxide
It is an invisible, odorless gas created when fuels such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil ormethane burn incompletely. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include severe headache, dizziness, mental confusion, nausea and faintness.