Carbon monoxide sickens 3 at day care

Officials at a day care center in southeast Colorado Springs will be installing carbon monoxide monitors today after two teachers and a toddler were sickened by the dangerous gas and two guinea pigs died there Tuesday.

Authorities were called to Child Nursery Centers, 1465 S. Chelton Road, at about 12:45 p.m. after the teachers said they felt ill and the animals were found dead, said Diane Price, CEO of the center.

“It’s not unusual that two teachers would be sick, but we had two guinea pigs die, and we thought we should have the air checked,” Price said.

Firefighters, utility workers and the Colorado Springs Hazardous Materials Team checked the center for carbon monoxide but could not detect any elevated levels, said fire Lt. Brian Keys.

“We don’t know what triggered it in the child or in the teachers,” Price said.

Authorities found that the two teachers had low levels of carbon monoxide poisoning and sent them to Memorial Hospital.

They also checked the children at the school and found a 2-year-old girl who also had the gas present in her system. She was sent to Memorial Hospital along with her mother. Price said the child could have been sickened in a separate incident.

“(Authorities) think it was from something else that occurred, but we don’t know that for sure,” she said.

The gas is colorless, odorless and highly poisonous. It can deprive body tissues of oxygen, causing brain damage and even death. Keys said symptoms of poisoning include headache, dizziness, queasiness and lethargy.

It was unknown whether the guinea pigs were killed by carbon monoxide. Keys said there would not be any tests done on the animals to confirm.

Parents were notified of the poisonings as they picked up their children from the center, Price said. About 50 children were at the school Tuesday. The center’s enrollment is 73, Price said.

“(The parents) were fine. They just wanted to know what was going on. Everything was calm,” she said. “The kids weren’t scared. They actually thought it was exciting.”

Price said carbon monoxide monitors were to be installed in the center’s six classrooms, kitchen and office.

The center will be open today.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-4813 or kim.nguyen@gazette.com