MONROE (AP) — Twenty-two people were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning over the weekend at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in central Utah, authorities said Monday.
Emergency personnel initially responded to two medical calls on Sunday at the church in the small city of Monroe, the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office said. The initial calls involved a 4-year-old girl with breathing problems and a man who was feeling sick.
However, according to a news release from the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, the girl had been sick earlier in the week so she was believed to be having further symptoms from the earlier illness.
The older man reported he thought he was having low blood sugar complications and sought treatment on his own. After another family reported all having headaches when they got home, the Monroe City fire department was called in to check the building for possible carbon monoxide poisoning, the news release said.
The Monroe City Fire Department checked the building and found elevated levels of carbon monoxide, prompting the church to be evacuated.
More people reported being ill later in the evening and police said in all 22 individuals were taken to out-of-area hospitals with hyperbaric chambers where the victims could be treated.
Sevier County EMS did not have enough ambulances or personnel for the number of transports so other agencies were contacted for assistance. Piute County EMS and Gunnison Valley Hospital ambulance assisted with three transfers while Ephraim, North Sanpete and Gold Cross Ambulance services were all on standby in case more were needed.
Several individuals who were not as critical were able to self-transport. All of these transfers were done while still responding to other medical calls, including a pursuit with a crash and a call to an unresponsive individual. Some of the Ambulance crews made more than one trip
The source of the carbon monoxide poisoning has not been determined.
Church officials are working to resolve the problem, the news release said.
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