February 29, 2012 Cariboo Advisor

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the Cariboo Advisor Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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Volume 15, Issue 9

February 29, 2012

Diondra Hurd and Williams Lake Charlotte Duggun Stampeders Talk Pink Shirt Day at Council Page 10

in action in the Coy Cup Finals Page 14

10,675 Copies Distributed Each Week

THIS WEEK’S FLYERS: • United Carpet

Gas leak sends 70 to hospital

Shane Innes Photo

Williams Lake Blue Fin, Johnny Russell, is evacuated from the Cariboo Memorial Complex by a paramedic after chlorine gas overwhelmed the pool patrons during the Blue Fin Spring Fling swim meet on Sunday morning. Over 71 people were sent to hospital after the incident.

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Angie Mindus Cariboo Advisor One child remains in hospital with undisclosed injuries after a chloride leak at Sam Ketchum Memorial pool sent more than 70 people to hospital on the weekend. The disaster couldn’t have happened at a more busy time for the pool, which was packed Sunday morning as the Blue Fins Swim Club hosted young competitors and spectators from Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake for an annual swim meet, when everyone suddenly became overtaken by the fowlsmelling poisonous gas. Eleven-year-old Blue Fin Octavia Rusch was in the water and in the middle of her warm-up swim when the emergency unfolded shortly after 8 a.m. “I was swimming lengths when all of the people (inside the pool room) were screaming, “get out” and were running toward the door,” Octavia recalled Monday evening, still recovering from a sore throat due to the exposure. Octavia said many swimmers, including herself, were forced to evacuate the pool wet and still in their bathing suits while medics triaged victims and banded their wrists

with green, yellow and red tape indicating their need for treatment in the much cooler hockey rink area as they awaited ambulances. “It was very scary and I would never want to go through that again. Everyone was scared,” Octavia said, who herself was upgraded to a red wristband and taken to hospital by ambulance after her heart rate slowed. “You can’t stop coughing and you feel like you’re going to be sick,” she said of her reaction to inhaling the gas. Cariboo Memorial Hospital called in extra physicians and nurses to help treat the estimated 70 emergency patients; 25 adults and 45 children. The City’s Chief Administrative Officer Brian Carruthers said yesterday he is awaiting the formal results of an investigation led by a third party health and safety investigator to determine the cause of the leak. “We have to ensure that whatever happened on Sunday will never happen again,” he said. The pool will be closed until the investigation is complete. The pool is operated by the City of Williams Lake but the building is owned by the Cariboo Regional District.

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