An ice rink in Adelaide’s west has experienced a carbon monoxide leak, resulting in at least 38 patients being admitted to the hospital.
Following the discovery of carbon monoxide poisoning in 16 Melbourne Ice women’s hockey players at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, firefighters from the Metropolitan Fire Service were dispatched to Thebarton Ice Arena.
Yesterday afternoon, they had engaged in a match at the same location against Adelaide Rush.
Firefighters were called to the ice rink by the hospital when two women who had been admitted with poisoning symptoms were first noticed.
High quantities of carbon monoxide and minor levels of hydrogen cyanide were found during testing this morning.
Fortunately, it was discovered that most cases of carbon monoxide poisoning were at a low level, despite the fact that the symptoms might be rather serious.
State Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier stated, “Usually you get a headache, but you might also feel tired and dizzy, and sometimes a bit nauseous.”
“When it gets into your blood system it attaches to your haemoglobin, it pushes off oxygen so it means it’s not easy for the body to carry oxygen around.”
The Metropolitan Fire Service speculates that the leak might have originated from an internal combustion engine in an ice resurfacing machine.
Richard Laidlaw, manager of Ice Arena, stated that the facility was no longer employing the device.
“It’s not in service right now. We’ll put our backup equipment into use as well,” the man stated.
According to Ice Hockey Australia, each venue was free to decide whether or not to install carbon monoxide monitors; the league had no official policy on the matter.
In a statement issued today, the women’s league stated that it was striving to guarantee that games were exclusively performed in secure settings.
