On Wednesday, an incident involving construction equipment at a Yale University-owned building resulted in the hospitalization of fourteen individuals due to carbon monoxide poisoning, as reported by officials.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker informed that a call was received by first responders just before 8 am reporting an unconscious person found on a sidewalk.
The individual, identified as a construction worker, was promptly transported to a hospital and treated for exceptionally elevated levels of carbon monoxide in their bloodstream.
Following this incident, emergency crews were dispatched to inspect the building for a potential gas leak.
The New Haven Fire Department’s carbon monoxide detectors at the site revealed levels approximately “10 times the safe amount of carbon dioxide in the air,” according to Mayor Elicker.
Construction crews evacuated both the construction site and an adjacent Yale-owned building, as confirmed by Karen Peart, a university spokesperson.
The total number of individuals hospitalized amounted to 14, comprising nine construction workers and five university employees.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the construction workers had been utilizing a propane-fueled saw for concrete cutting, as stated by Mayor Elicker.
Critical Condition Due to Carbon Monoxide Exposure
Rick Fontana, New Haven’s emergency operations director, reported that the worker discovered unconscious outside the building had been transported to a hospital’s hyperbaric chamber in Brooklyn, New York, where he remains in critical condition.
Mayor Elicker noted that four individuals have been discharged, while the others remain under medical monitoring in the emergency room.
Upon arrival at the scene, responding personnel found 13 people in the building with elevated carbon monoxide levels, experiencing headaches, according to Fontana.
He specified that a typical home carbon monoxide detector alerts at 35 parts per million, while in this incident, the levels were at 350 parts per million, exceeding the permissible level by tenfold.
Around 11:30 am, Yale responders confirmed that carbon monoxide levels at the construction site were within the safe range, with no detection in adjacent areas, as conveyed by Peart.
Mayor Elicker mentioned that a stop work order for the site has been issued by New Haven’s building inspector, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation into the incident.