Problems and Solutions for School Carbon Monoxide Safety
School carbon monoxide safety must start with comprehensive preventative maintenance of fuel burning appliances and carbon monoxide alarms.
By Rebecca Martin
School is back in session across the country and unfortunately so are reports of carbon monoxide leaks. School safety continues to be an enormous issue in the United States with public concerns about the health and wellbeing of students from preschool to upper education. While gun safety is foremost in our thoughts and in the media, environmental safety in our schools is also an ongoing issue which deserves examination.
School carbon monoxide safety starts with alarms but then must include comprehensive steps to assure that all HVAC equipment is properly maintained and replaced at the end of its useful life.
On August 23, students at the Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida, were released early when four cafeteria workers and a first responder were hospitalized following a carbon monoxide leak in the school’s cafeteria. Early that morning, workers began to experience nausea and lightheadedness. First responders found eight school staffers experiencing various symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure. While rescue workers treated the school staffers, maintenance and hazmat crews ventilated the building and searched for a source of the CO leak. https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/multiple-hospitalized-after-carbon-monoxide-incident-at-high-school-in-weston/3399618/
Just a few days later, on August 26, a propane leak at the Oriole Elementary School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, also in Broward County, caused a school-wide evacuation and one person was hospitalized as a result. the person hospitalized was also a school staffer. The leak was reported to have originated in or near the school’s cafeteria, according to a Broward County Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesperson. Children returned to the school after an investigation of the scene. https://www.local10.com/news/local/2024/08/26/1-taken-to-hospital-after-propane-leak-at-broward-elementary-school/
The urgency of the situation became even more elevated when the Cypress Bay High School experienced a second incident the same day as the incident at the Oriole Elementary School, a day after the principal at the 4700-student campus had sent out a message to parents that the issue had been resolved. This resulted in the cafeteria being evacuated again due to a faulty fuse in the ovens’ vents.
On August 29, another Broward County school, Piper High was evacuated due to “an unusual odor” but it was determined that no leak had occurred.
Incidents Draw Attention to Absence of School Carbon Monoxide Safety Measures
It was revealed that none of the schools in the county were equipped with carbon monoxide detectors as there were no codes or laws requiring them to be in schools. Parents and staff were alarmed at the absence of CO detectors, and a Broward School Board held an emergency meeting to address the issue. They unanimously voted to install carbon monoxide detectors county-wide at a cost of $55,000. https://www.local10.com/news/local/2024/09/04/broward-county-school-board-set-to-install-carbon-monoxide-detectors-after-leaks-reported/
Even though the only site where carbon monoxide had been detected by first responders was the Cypress Bay High School, people were still surprised that there was no provision in the codes or laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors in the county schools.
While Superintendent Howard Hepburn stated that he felt that people were being “a little overly cautious”, he did recommend the purchase of a gas detection system. A Board member, Nora Rupert, sent a letter to Superintendent Howard asking that further actions be taken to assure the safety of Broward County students and staff, including full inspections, reports, an action plan, a review and potential update of emergency response procedures, transparent communication with parents, staff and community and information on what departments were responsible for maintenance, inspections and data collection and analysis.
“The safety of our students, teachers, and staff is paramount, and these recurring incidents pose a significant risk to their well-being,” Rupert wrote. “Not only do these evacuations disrupt the learning environment, but they also expose our school community to potential health hazards.” https://pineapplereport.com/carbon-monoxide-detectors-supported-for-broward-schools-following-gas-leaks/#:~:text=Carbon%20monoxide%20detectors%20supported%20for%20Broward%20schools%20following%20gas%20leaks,-Sun%20Sentinel%20%7C%20By&text=Broward%20Schools%20will%20install%20carbon,the%20suspension%20of%20hot%20meals.
Rupert’s letter expressed concerns that most of us would have and brought up questions we should be asking of all our public schools, regardless of the existence of specific codes or laws that may or may not exist. Those concerns were:
A comprehensive safety audit of all school buildings in the district, focusing on gas lines, cooking/heating systems, and carbon monoxide detectors.
Her first point regarding inspections identifies a problem which often seems to exist in any public entity from hotels to schools, determining who is responsible for maintenance on gas lines, cooking/heating systems and who is collecting and analyzing that information. Who is making sure that inspections are done on a recommended basis? Just as we may have furnaces looked at before colder weather sets in, who is responsible that the same preparations are made prior to schools opening in the fall.
Nationally, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) sets the HVAC industry standards for airflow and quality in classrooms, gyms and kitchens, in general. There may be further requirements on state and local levels. However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that “most states do not conduct statewide assessments to find out what kind of improvements their schools need, so this job is left to the school districts” and that “Updating HVAC was not a top priority for school officials surveyed by the GAO in a report released in June 2020.” Roughly, 41% of America’s schools need updated or new HVAC systems. That is 36,000 schools. https://www.rsi.edu/blog/hvacr/hvac-demand-41-of-americas-schools-need-new-hvac-systems/#:~:text=ASHRAE,kitchens%20in%20a%20school%20building.
One should also consider that public schools are often multi-use. They serve as emergency shelters during weather disasters, voting places and host several community events. They are vital to their communities in many ways. This seems a valid reason for communities to also be involved in insuring that their public schools are safe and to stress that this has a great impact on their community in general.
A detailed report on the causes of recent gas and carbon monoxide leaks, including any patterns or common factors identified.
Rupert’s second point is so obvious and so often not forthcoming, she contends that a full report of what caused any gas leaks or carbon monoxide should be available as well as a history of any previous incidents. It is constantly frustrating to read about an incident in the media and once it has occurred, it is very rare for any type of explanation to be released to the public. There should be more accountability and transparency beyond “the problem has been fixed”. For example, if the HVAC system has a pattern of failure, that information might be useful when considering whether replacement should be included in school budgets. Information about constantly malfunctioning equipment should spawn a plan of action to address the issue even if it cannot be addressed immediately, as she outlines in point 3.
An action plan to address and prevent future incident, including necessary repairs, upgrades, or replacements of faulty equipment.
And this brings us to education and communication issues. Most schools do not provide fundamental information on carbon monoxide including the warning symptoms of the presence of carbon monoxide, what to do in case exposure is suspected. And very importantly, how to look for changes in students who have experienced carbon monoxide exposure and may be exhibiting delayed symptoms days, weeks or months later.
A review and potential update of our emergency response procedures for gas and carbon monoxide leaks to ensure school carbon monoxide safety.
And something we all need to demand, more transparency, and less “not to worry” from those in charge. When there is a carbon monoxide event that impacts more than 100 people, there is no way to transport that many people by ambulance. This probably is especially dire when the poisoning happens in a rural community. Further, all evacuees will need oxygen, but the oxygen masks will be as limited as the ambulances. See https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2756835/Students-sickened-carbon-monoxide-leak-suspected.html
A communication strategy to keep parents, staff and community informed about the steps being taken to ensure school carbon monoxide safety.
Rupert goes on to list the specific questions one might ask. “Which specific departments within our district are responsible for: a) Maintaining gas lines, cooking/heating systems, and carbon monoxide detectors in our schools? B) Conducting regular inspections of these systems? C) Collecting and analyzing data related to gas leaks and carbon monoxide incidents?” https://pineapplereport.com/carbon-monoxide-detectors-supported-for-broward-schools-following-gas-leaks/#:~:text=Carbon%20monoxide%20detectors%20supported%20for%20Broward%20schools%20following%20gas%20leaks,-Sun%20Sentinel%20%7C%20By&text=Broward%20Schools%20will%20install%20carbon,the%20suspension%20of%20hot%20meals.
According to carbonmonoxideinschools.org there was an 82% increase in school-based CO incidents in the 2023-2024 school year. Despite this, most schools across the United States do not have carbon monoxide detectors because they are not required to. And just like Broward County residents discovered, this lack of carbon monoxide detectors is not generally public knowledge until an incident occurs.
Children can be more prone to the harmful effects of carbon monoxide than adults because of their higher metabolism and respiration rates. Neurological damage can occur that may not be noticeable until a child reaches another developmental stage, most often when a child enters puberty, and systems are engaged that may have been damaged. Because children are so vulnerable, we do have a more pressing need to provide them with a safe environment to learn in.
Detection the First Step for School Safety
The first line of defense for school carbon monoxide safety is always going to be a carbon monoxide detection system. And contrary to what some believe, this need exists in schools who don’t have fuel-powered HVAC or kitchens. Carbon monoxide incidents have occurred when portable cleaning equipment is used improperly, or gas-powered machines like cars or landscaping equipment have been used near air intake sources.
It also doesn’t matter if the machinery which powers the school is in a separate location. Carbon monoxide can travel. In two of our school poisoning cases, the boilers were in fire safe rooms, removed from the classrooms, but the air handlers/other systems recirculated it. “Air gets circulated from the equipment rooms to where the people are. Always.”
And lastly, not all carbon monoxide detection systems are the same. Even in areas which require carbon monoxide detectors be present, the bare minimum requirements may have been met without a thorough look at the actual needs of the building itself. Size, age, layout and the type of systems in place should have to be considered.
Remote Monitoring for School Carbon Monoxide Safety
Ideally, all schools going forward would be linked to remote monitoring services that analyze HVAC performance and provide data to determine when repairs or replacement might be needed to head off the prospect of run to failure incidents, but at this point in time, carbon monoxide detectors are the most affordable line of defense. We need to make sure every school in the United States is protected by properly placed, properly installed and properly maintained carbon monoxide detectors.
As a parent, you have a right to check if your daycare, preschool, school, college or university has adequate protection against carbon monoxide. And if the answer is no, you can easily attach a handheld detector to a backpack. And, you can add your voice to a the growing number of parents working to change statewide regulations for carbon monoxide detection in schools.
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