NANTUCKET -- Eleven people, including three children, were poisoned overnight by carbon monoxide gas and rushed to Nantucket Cottage Hospital for treatment Saturday morning.
Five of those victims have been flown by MedFlight helicopters to Boston hospitals for further treatment, according to hospital spokesman Bill Ferrall.
A faulty gas-fired furnace in the basement of the Macys Lane home is the likely cause of the crisis, said State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.
The victims onboard the medical helicopters were all listed in fair condition Saturday afternoon, meaning they are conscious and their vital signs are stabilized, Ferrall added.
Ferrall would not release conditions of the other victims.
Two of the victims appeared near death at first, but "they were handled very professionally at the local hospital" and their conditions have improved, Coan said.
"This is a reminder why it is so important to have working carbon monoxide detectors," Coan said.
"The CO detectors in the home did not have functioning batteries and 11 people came close to death."
State law requires carbon monoxide detectors in all homes with potential sources of carbon monoxide. Detectors must be installed on every level of the home and within 10 feet of each sleeping area and in habitable portions of basements and attics.
Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer. It is invisible, has no smell or taste and puts its victims into a deep sleep from which they often do not awake, he added. Earlier signs of poisoning include nausea, headaches and other flu symptoms.
Saturday morning shortly after 9 a.m., the island's emergency services began getting multiple calls from 40 Macys Lane, Coan said. The residents were complaining of feeling extremely ill.
The five sickest residents were staying in the basement apartment, located closet to the gas-fired furnace, Coan said.
Officials believe the heater, which was recently repaired, is the source of the carbon monoxide, Coan said.
In addition to the 11 people being treated from the home, four police officers and a firefighter were also evaluated for carbon monoxide poisoning at the hospital, Ferrall said.
The crisis taxed Nantucket Cottage Hospital, which only has 19 beds, and only 12 people working in the emergency room that day, Ferrall said.
"So we are busy," Ferrall said Saturday.
All three of Nantucket's available ambulances were called into duty, as first responders discovered more and more people inside the home.
"There were a lot of beds in there and a lot of people," Nantucket Fire Chief Mark McDougall said.
A neighbor at the scene said others who were removed from the home were given oxygen on the front lawn as they were having trouble breathing.
The residents in the home speak mostly Spanish, according to Kenny Haughton, another neighbor.
"It's really sad," Haughton added.
McDougall said carbon monoxide levels inside the basement of the home were recorded at 380 parts per million, well in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency's permissible exposure limit of 50 ppm. Average levels in homes without gas stoves typically range from .5 to 5 ppm.
The owner of the home, Marcos Tejada, arrived at the scene as the last of the victims were being transported to the hospital, and was talking to police officers on the front lawn. In a brief interview, Tejada said it was his family members inside the home who had been sickened, but he was unsure how many people and was trying to get more information from police.
"It was a serious event, no question about it," McDougall said. "It could have been a whole house full of dead people."
Material from The Inquirer and Mirror was used in this report.
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3:50
Nantucket, MA- 15 Inured in Carbon Monoxide Incident (04-16-11)by satellitenewsservice429 views
whats up with the bourne engine in nantucket? thats a long mutual aid ferry ride :)
atblanchard 10 months ago