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Friday, May 06, 2011

Cause of Wi-Middle HAZMAT Still Unknown

As reported earlier in SbyNEWS, Wicomico Middle School was dismissed early today due to a HAZMAT team being dispatched to school.  The exact nature and cause of the problem are still unknown.

Tracy Sahler, Public Information Officer for the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE), confirmed that students were dismissed early today due to a potential hazard.

Three staff members reported not feeling well and left the school.  Staff were dispatched to Wi Middle to check on the situation but they did not find a measurable problem with the school’s air quality.

Later in the day, someone called 911 and the Salisbury Fire Department HAZMAT team was dispatched to the school.  They also tested the school’s air quality and undertook a search for any potential hazard.

Sahler noted that she had not received a formal report from the Fire Department; however, it was her understanding that the HAZMAT team found “an open container of Freon”.  At the present time the WCBOE does not know if this caused the three staff members to become ill.

Sahler stated that Board staff were continuing to work to find a cause (if one exists).

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

correct that story WCBOE,

picked up my child on time, with no notification of a problem, or any early dismissal. why dont they say what really happened,

the children were sent outside for 2 hours.

Anonymous said...

terrorist attack?

Anonymous said...

why wasnt parsonsburg hazmat team called in on this? ryan and steve are going to be poed. they are working hard to do county wide hazmat and with sfd making cutbacks they need all the help they can get.

Anonymous said...

My son attends Wi Middle and informed me of a student that was sent to the hospital as well. There is also a fourth teacher that was treated as well. I personally believe the Board of Ed Is full of it and owes the students, parents, and staff a better explanation than what they ate giving. Don't minimalize the situation.

Anonymous said...

Absolute overkill on the part of the leadership of the Salisbury Fire Department as usual!!

Anonymous said...

OK...so was it CO or Freon?? There is a big difference!!

Anonymous said...

Since Tracy & Eric (Daily Times) are married you'll never get the truth.

Anonymous said...

I like how they say 3 teachers "reported not feeling well." I think 3 teachers passing out and being rushed to the ER is a little more serious then that. They should have evacuted the school as soon as that happened until waiting hours later.

Anonymous said...

9:15, Delmar's decon unit was called in to assist. Do hold me to it, but I believe they are next due for this situation. I may be wrong though.

Anonymous said...

Carbon Monoxde Detected - is the truth

Anonymous said...

There were over 8/9 people sick yesterday. Parents need to speak up & call the board of ed to make sure the HVAC system has been checked over the weekend before students & staff return on Monday. My daughter went to E.R. last night after I insisted she go-she had a headache, nausea & sore throat/felt like throat closing all day. I dont undertand why administration waiting till last period to evacuate the school when 3 teachers were very sick during the first period of the day & were driven to a med center by another teacher! Please check the HVAC & make sure its safe for all to return & let staff/students know exactly what they have "inhaled" so they can be diagnosed & treated correctly!

Anonymous said...

The kids WERE NOT released early. Parents couldn't even drive up to get them. My daughter came home with a headache. I still have NOT heard anything from the school, but Lil Giddens is quick to call and leave messages for much less important things. Bottom line, Administration dropped the ball. They had the kids outside for two hours because of a CO leak, and then let them in to get their book bags. And they had no plan on how to dismiss them!

G. A. Harrison said...

A bunch of commenters keep claiming that there was a CO problem. According to the BOE, they didn't measure any harmful levels of CO. I happen to believe them because all of the symptoms that these same folks are describing are NOT symptoms of CO poisoning.

Carbon Monoxide is so dangerous because there aren't many outward symptoms. You turn cherry red, you get a little disoriented, you pass out and then die. You don't feel ill or any of the other symptoms people are describing.

Did the BOE handle things perfectly? No. Is this some massive conspiracy to poison our children. Don't think so.

Give them a chance to find out what is going on. If the problem persists and they sit on it we'll call them on it. Until then, don't assume they are lying for the sake of it.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

I like how they say 3 teachers "reported not feeling well." I think 3 teachers passing out and being rushed to the ER is a little more serious then that. They should have evacuted the school as soon as that happened until waiting hours later.

May 7, 2011 1:03 AM

I can tell you a for a fact that no person passed out and no one was rushed to the hospital. You are full of CRAP!!!

Anonymous said...

What is bothering me is how unsafe it was outside the building. I personally witnessed a fight, kids running around play fighting, teachers in groups just talkin and Lil Giddens just walking around oblivious to everything. I saw 6 students run right past Mrs. Giddens and tried to get in the door closest and she just let them go. I was more upset with the lack of perfossionalism that was going on outside the building

Anonymous said...

BREAKING NEWS

The Salisbury Fire Department is dismantling it's day shift duty crew(E shift)again. Now it appears there will be no coverage at Station 1 or Station 2 during the day or is it? Do you feel safe not knowing if there is a paid fire crew in your fire district.



To: All Department Personnel Date: 4 May 2011

From: John W. Tull, Senior Assistant Chief

Subject: Personnel Reassignments


New Assignments From To

Thomas Moore Recruit Training S-16/B-Shift

Personnel Reassignments From To

Lieutenant Greg Hoppes Supply S-16/C-Shift Lieutenant Richard Rathel E-Shift S-16/D-Shift FF/EMT-B Joseph Derbyshire E-Shift S-16/B-Shift FF/EMT-B Gerald Brinson E-Shift S-16/A-Shift
FF/EMT-B Stephen Mizell E-Shift S-16/B-Shift

Shift Scheduling

Current Assignment Report New Assignment Report

Recruit Training Friday 5/6/11 S-16/B-Shift Sunday 5/8/11

Supply Friday 5/13/11 S-16/C-Shift Tuesday 5/17/11

E-Shift Thursday 5/12/11 S-16/D-Shift Saturday 5/14/11

E-Shift Friday 5/13/11 S-16/B-Shift Monday 5/16/11

E-Shift Friday 5/13/11 S-16/B-Shift Monday 5/16/11

E-Shift Friday 5/13/11 S-16/A-Shift Sunday 5/15/11

Anonymous said...

I can tell you for a fact that 3 teachers were driven to a med ctr. by another teacher. that teacher returned to school & she later that evening went to hospital because her symptoms never went away--all these teachers still do not feel good today & would like to know what they inhaled! Wi Middle Administration blew this one off & should have immediately called for help--to all parents please call Wi Middle & the board of Ed Monday morning & ask if they know what caused this issue--why should these teachers return on Monday knowing that the issue is NOT solved unless someone tells us what happened. I don't understand why the vice principal & principal delayed there process---where was the nurse---doing paperwork???

Anonymous said...

Joe, please look into May 7, 2011 6:11 PM's post. Several months ago Hoppes and Gordy did away with 1 of the 2 day stations with firefighter coverage. Now the new fire chief is doing away with the second day station for fire coverage. If you live in the area of Kmart or the area of Center of Salisbury Mall and you have an emergency you are going to have to wait for the fire crew to respond from Cypress Street. And to make matters worse that fire crew from Cypress Street may already be on a call or the Mill Street bridge may be going up and they have to wait.

This is important news concerning the safety of the visitors of Salisbury and the tax paying residents. Please post this at the top as a new story. This is the truth and the public knows about it.

Anonymous said...

I was at Wi Middle all day on Friday. Yes, three 3rd floor teachers went to the med center. Yes, they were very ill. Many other teachers felt quite bad, recognized the symptons as a possible air quality issue and immediately opened the windows. This occurred before 9:30AM. Administration blew it off, plain and simple. In fact, one administrator stated that everything was fine and that the teachers were "just jumping on the bandwagon and saying they felt bad." Yeah right, that's what adult professionals do-- they make up symptoms.
So, why weren't the kids starting to get ill in the morning? That's because the 8th grade students had gone downstairs during 3rd & 4th periods for their related arts classes. The 8th grade teachers stay in their area for their planning time.
Those teachers who became ill were transported to the med center by another staff member, not by an administrator. They didn't care how these teachers were doing. Several staff requested that the fire department be called at this time to check out the building for a possible gas leak. This request was denied. BOE maintenance was called over to check out the situation an hour later and they reported everything was fine. Keep in mind that windows had been open quite a while at this point.
It wasn't until after 1:00 pm, when student became very ill, that the school had to call 911 for this child. After 1:30 we were evacuated. The BOE knew the school was being evacuated before we knew it! Yes, we spent 2 hours outside, and were able to go in just before dismissal to gather belongings and get kids back out to be dismissed. There has been no word from adminisistration since.
To the person who said that there was unprofessionalism among the staff-- really? Things were fairly organized, given the lack of leadership from admin (who stood in a circle with all of the "concerned" officials from the BOE). It was the teachers & staff who kept crowd control for two hours--Even knowing that their school and BOE admin could care less about the health of the staff.
Parents & concerned community members, PLEASE share your outrage over this situation with the Wicomico County Board of Education.