An entire school cafeteria was evacuated from a Broward County High School Friday morning for a possible carbon monoxide leak, officials said.
Five people were hospitalized and said they experienced symptoms of lightheadedness, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. None of the people who were taken to the hospital were students.
The issue began around 10:30 a.m. and emergency responders are checking the school’s carbon monoxide levels. While school officials said in a statement that the leak was “contained,” students were dismissed from classes early.
Additional information including what may have caused the leak or the condition of those taken to the hospital was not immediately available Friday afternoon.
Breathing in Carbon Monoxide Gas
In data from the Centers for Disease Control, it is estimated that approximately 400 Americans die every year from breathing in the colorless, odorless gas. In 2022, the death toll had reached 1,244. About 624 of the deaths for that year were accidental while 511 of those deaths involved carbon monoxide but the gas was not listed as the official cause of death.
Carbon monoxide binds to the hemoglobin in blood and reduces the body’s ability to carry oxygen. Over 100,000 people visit the emergency room after breathing in the gas and 140,000 are hospitalized every year. The gas can leak from broken or improper maintenance of appliances like water heaters, generators and HVAC systems. Symptoms can include drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, nausea and or vomiting.
In May, Leesfield & Partners’ Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, and Evan Robinson, a Trial Lawyer at the firm, published an article in Trial Magazine discussing the dangers of carbon monoxide and how to go about building a claim.
“Carbon monoxide poisoning isn’t just a subtle threat; it’s the second most common cause of non-medicinal poisoning death,” the attorneys said in the article.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is among some of the leading personal injury firms when it comes to carbon monoxide exposure claims. In 2008, Mr. Leesfield was among lawyers who spoke out about the need for carbon monoxide safety and paved the way for legislation in Florida, the first of its kind in the state. The law called for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in the sleeping quarters of new builds and outlined additional safety requirements to prevent injuries and deaths from accidentally breathing in the poisonous gas.
More recently, Leesfield & Partners secured an eight-figure settlement on behalf of a couple who were vacationing in a foreign country and were exposed to the lethal gas.
Another case handled by the law firm resulted in $11,750,000 on behalf of a woman injured from carbon monoxide poisoning at a resort.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys handled a case of an Iowa family exposed to carbon monoxide gas during a stay at a Key West hotel. The family was thankfully able to call 911 before they passed out from breathing in the poisonous gas. The room was later rented out to a father and son who were also exposed and able to call for emergency services for help.
The case captured the attention of national news outlets and the cause of the leak was later revealed to be an improperly maintained boiler room roof vent that was damaged during Hurricane Wilma. The hotel failed to have the vent properly inspected or repaired by a licensed technician, allowing the problem to worsen leading to the leak.
The firm also represented several students exposed to the gas while they slept at university housing. The exhaust pipe for a gas furnace heating the house was not functioning properly, allowing the gas to flow back into the house where the students were sleeping.
If you think you may have a carbon monoxide injury case, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & Partners attorney for a free consultation today at 800-836-6400.