Posted: Mon 5:59 PM, Nov 19, 2018
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBS WVLT)
More than two dozen students and an adult staff member were hospitalized Monday for possible exposure to an unknown substance at a high school in Fort Lauderdale, CBS Miami reports.
“These students were having various states. Some were having syncopal episodes, were passing out. Some had nosebleeds, some were having shortness of breath,” said Fort Lauderdale Battalion Chief Stephen Collan.
The 26 students from Cardinal Gibbons High School were in stable condition and improving Monday afternoon, but the cause of their symptoms remains a mystery and is still under investigation.
“We don’t know. We’ve searched back and forth. We’ve done three different samplings. We’ve used our monitors and have come up with nothing,” said Collan.
The students began falling ill shortly after they left a prayer service in the gymnasium shortly after 11:30 a.m. They began getting sick in classrooms and other areas in the school.
“They were like passing out and stuff like that,” said student Gustavo Hernandez. “Some people started having nosebleeds. Some of the people were having ear pain.”
Some parents rushed to the school, concerned for their kids.
“I texted with my children and one said she felt sick later on, so I told her to go to the paramedic,” said parent J.B. Perdomo as she dashed past a group of reporters.
Images from “Discover Cardinal Gibbons High School” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j54in4fl9k
Twenty-six students and one adult are hospitalized after falling mysteriously ill with seizures, nose bleeds and fainting spells following exposure to an unknown substance during morning prayer at a Florida high school
- Students began feeling ill Monday morning after a school-wide Thanksgiving prayer in the gymnasium at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale
- Emergency crews arrived at the school and put it on lockdown at around 11.30am
- Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said: ‘There was nothing found in any of the hazmat sweeps. There is no rhyme or reason at this time’
- The 27 people who were hospitalized had begun to feel better by the afternoon
By MEGAN SHEETS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 15:50 EST, 19 November 2018 | UPDATED: 20:22 EST, 19 November 2018
Twenty-six students and one adult staff member from a South Florida high school have been hospitalized, including some who had seizures, after possible exposure to an unknown substance.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials say students began feeling ill Monday after the student body attended a morning Thanksgiving prayer in the gymnasium at Cardinal Gibbons High School, Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan told the Sun Sentinel.
After returning to their classes, some students at the private Roman Catholic school experienced seizures, others had nosebleeds or shortness of breath and some passed out.
Twenty-six students and one adult staff member at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were hospitalized with mystery illnesses on Monday. Pictured: A student is transported to an ambulance as the private Catholic school was put on lockdown
Florida students hospitalized after falling sick with strange illness
Gollan said the students affected students were different ages, different grades, in different classrooms and from varying social circles.
Because of the variety of victims, officials have been able to rule out a possible prank or drug-induced sickness.
‘It was too many students and too widespread,’ Gollan said.
Paramedics, ambulances and a hazardous materials team were dispatched to the school after the first 911 call was made at 11.30am.
Overhead news coverage showed students who appeared to be conscious being loaded into ambulances.
The school was put on lockdown while the hazmat crew swept the campus, monitoring for gas leaks and taking swabs to test for over 5,000 chemical compounds, all of which came back negative.
‘There was nothing found in any of the hazmat sweeps,’ Gollan said.
‘There is no rhyme or reason at this time. We really don’t know. It’s very, very weird.’
By afternoon, all of those who were hospitalized were stable and feeling better, Gollan reported.
‘They are all improving and their blood work came back negative.’
A hazardous materials crew swept the campus but did not find any dangerous substances
The Fort Lauderdale Police tweeted that the area of concern was isolated, and there was no need for parents to pick up their children.
Parents also got a prerecorded call from the school, which has over 1,000 students, about the incident shortly after emergency personnel arrived.
One parent, Alena Atonelli, immediately called her son, who reported that he had a headache and felt lightheaded but was okay.
‘I’m just nervous because if it’s a leak why do they still have the kids in school?’ Antonelli told the Sun Sentinel. ‘It’s nerve-wracking.’
The cause of the sudden illnesses is still under investigation.
INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
After more than a year of early adapter experimentation with an educational based iPad cart deployment, much thought, research and conversation, Cardinal Gibbons High School was among the first in South Florida to implement a 1:1 iPad deployment for grades 9-12 in the 2012-2013 school year.
By providing innovative ways for students to access course content, our iPads allow students and teachers to stay current with educational methodology that promotes student achievement and success. This affords students instant access to visual and textual information while utilizing engaging and exploratory ways of learning. Additionally, mobile devices enables educators to individualize and differentiate instruction and deliver real-time curriculum tailored to meet their students’ needs and address various learning styles. One way this is accomplished is through the use of digital textbooks which promotes self-directed and collaborative learning.
Traditional educational paradigms are being redefined and we believe that this initiative supports our mission to prepare each student to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. Cardinal Gibbons’ unique combination of college-preparatory curriculum, extra-curricular programs and community service promotes the academic, moral, social, athletic, artistic and spiritual development of the student.
We strive to offer our students every available opportunity to achieve their potential as life-long learners, and share our enthusiasm, vision and love of learning.
http://www.cghsfl.org/RelId/622341/ISvars/default/Technology.htm
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