On the first day of classes and dedication of the memorial to the 27 students and 5 faculty killed last April, Virginia Tech has been hit with another tragedy. According to an online edition of the Collegiate Times, a carbon monoxide leak in an off-campus housing complex has affected 21 students, included in serious condition.
Five females were found unresponsive in one apartment and were flown to hospitals by helicopter, said Blacksburg police Capt. Bruce Bradbery. Two were sent to the University of Virginia Medical Center on ventilators, and the three other were sent to Duke University Medical Center. Four of the young women remain unresponsive; one female transported to Duke has regained partial consciousness, Bradbery said.
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Bradbery said that the level of carbon monoxide to begin indication of symptoms is 25 parts per million (ppm). When the fire department conducted a reading after the building was evacuated, the reading reached 500 ppm. After 30 minutes of ventilation, that reading went down to 200 ppm.
Bradbery said that after a preliminary investigation the leak was caused by a faulty pressure relief valve in the hot water heater. Because the valve was open, the fuel was constantly burning and the carbon monoxide was not ventilating.
As a alumni of Virginia Tech, I have nothing to offer but shock and sadness. As neuroscientist, the gravity of the injuries to these young women breaks my heart. Words fail me.