CO Poisonings At Construction Site

Several people were taken to the hospital after a dangerous incident involving extremely high carbon monoxide levels at a construction site in East Brainerd. At 10:25 AM on Thursday, CFD Green Shift companies were called to 6698 Palms Court for reports of two people overcome by CO. Apartments are currently being built at that location. The workers had heaters set up inside and outside of the building and a few of those heaters malfunctioned, putting CO into the structure. Firefighters found two workers unresponsive when they arrived and immediately began treating the patients with oxygen. Hamilton County EMS also responded and helped with patient care as CFD crews went inside to search the entire building for more workers. They found that a number of construction employees were still working, unaware of what was happening. The whole structure was evacuated. Firefighters wore their full gear to conduct the rescues, including their SCBA masks, to protect them from the high levels of CO. According to fire officials on the scene, they detected levels at 540 parts per million on gas monitors. The safe amount of CO is zero. Every worker on the site was checked- around 40 individuals. Four of them were transported to the hospital with high CO levels. One worker was treated on the scene. The structure was thoroughly ventilated. Tennessee OSHA will be investigating the incident.

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