Carbon monoxide poisoning at LaSalle elementary school sends 43 students, staff to hospital

Montreal's fire chief suspects a faulty heating system could be responsible for a carbon monoxide leak that sickened dozens of students and staff at an elementary school in the city's southwestend on Monday.

First responders took35children and eight adults fromDes Decouvreurs elementary school to at least three Montreal-area hospitals the Montreal Children's and Sainte-Justine hospitals, as well as the Royal Victoria Hospital.

• Doctor: No serious injuries after LaSalle school carbon monoxide poisoning

Nine students lost consciousness in the school, according to Montreal Children's Hospital emergency room doctorDominicChalut.

Others were nauseous, vomited and were dizzy, Urgences-sant spokesperson Franois Labellesaid at the scene.

The sick children are between the ages of six and 13.

Des Decouvreursschool,located on 39thAvenue, near Riverside Park in the borough of LaSalle, was evacuated soon after a 911 callcame in from the school at 11:12 a.m. ET.Thechildren who weren't sick were moved to nearby Notre-Dame-des-Rapidesschool.

CO detector missing or faulty?

According to fire Chief Francis Leduc, the carbon monoxide leak could have come from a bad connection in the school's heating system. Such a defect is not uncommon, he said, and because carbon monoxideis odourless,its presencecan be hard to detect.

Leduc said most schools are equipped with carbon monoxide detectors, but Des Decouvreurswasnot.

Marguerite-Bourgeoysschool board president Diane Lamarche-Vennedisputed Leduc's comments, sayingthe school is equipped with both a carbon monoxide detector and a methane detector although neither are mandatory under Quebec's construction code.

Both devices were inspected last fall, she said, and the school boardwill work to determine what went wrong.

The school is closed Tuesday for inspection.

The province's building inspection board, the Rgie du btiment, confirmed that the construction code doesn't include regulations that schools must have carbon monoxide detectors.

Code Orange

The Montreal Children's Hospital issued a Code Orange for most of the afternoon, lifting itaround4 p.m.

Duringabriefing,Dr. Robert Barnes, the hospital's associate director of professional services, had asked that parents of sick children take them to other hospitalsas they dealt with the influx of cases.

The hospital received 16children to its emergency room, according to a statement.

Barnes said that10 children the nine who'd lost consciousness at the school and one who was having issues withbalance were sent toSacr-Coeur Hospital to receivehyperbaric oxygen therapyas a precaution. All were in stable condition, he said.

According to Chalut, another child is being kept at the Montreal Children's Hospital for prolonged oxygen therapy because bloodwork showed they were suffering frommild acidosis.

A spokesperson forSainte-Justine Hospitalsaid that by 3 p.m., it hadreceived 22 children from the school.

Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann said she was happy with the rapid response from Urgences-santand that there will be a thorough investigation into what happened.

"We must learn from this event, manage it with our partners and ensure that we take the necessary measures that it doesn't happen again," she said.

Parents called to pick up students

The school board called parents and sent them an email, asking them to pick up their children at Notre-Dame-de-Rapides and explaining thatthe building had a problem "possibly related to the school's heating system."

Robert Lalli, whohas two sons atDesDecouvreurs, said parents received very little other information about what had happened.

"We only know the school was evacuated forprecautionary reasons for a possible type of leak gas leak," he said.

He said he's satisfied with the school's response.

"They can't call everyone the minute it happens,"Lalli said. "The school's got to do what the school's got to do."