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Ogden investigators are working to figure out what caused a massive gas leak that sent dozens of people to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning on Thursday.
Company spokeswoman talks about CO poisoning
A company spokeswoman says all of the employees sent to the hospital following a CO leak at Ogden's Elkay West plant are now home.
The business at 551 Depot Drive remains closed Friday while contractors and managers work to isolate what caused the deadly gas to permeate the building Thursday afternoon.
Elkay spokeswoman Vicky Slomka says the building has no CO detectors. Ogden City Code does not require them in businesses, although every residential building in Ogden is required to have working detectors.
Slomka says they were considered, but that the building's design did not make them practical. Now the company is reconsidering its protocol. Slomka says that may include the use of portable devices set up to detect the gas.
Effects of CO poisoning
In all, 44 people were hospitalized for nausea and headaches. One employee, still going through treatments, elected not to be identified but told others he's angry.
With levels 20 times above what is considered safe, hyperbaric medicine Dr. Lin Weaver at Intermountain Medical Center worries about whether other victims should have been treated with hyperbaric oxygen instead of being sent home from emergency rooms.
"I've also been influenced by the number of people and the magnitude of damage I see in the long-term follow up. Patients sometimes unpredictably get these long-term problems," Weaver said.
The long-term problems include short-term memory loss, speed in processing, and balance issues. Weaver says sometimes depression and anxiety can linger long after exposure.
Even though CO is odorless, Weaver says you often can smell other products of combustion, which should be a clue.
"Isn't it preventable? Well, of course it's preventable. Carbon monoxide alarms, and people ought to think about if something just doesn't work right, act right, smells funny," Weaver said.
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