Evergreen staff turned off CO alarms before student died: WSP report
OLYMPIA, Wash. - An Evergreen College student died in December and the Washington State Patrol (WSP) announced carbon monoxide, also known as CO, poisoning led to his death. Two other students were also hospitalized following the incident.
On Dec. 11, the students were found after a student residence manager called campus police when they were not able to contact the students. An Evergreen police officer broke down the door of their on-campus modular apartment and had to do emergency CPR on the students.
The student who was killed was identified as 21-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez of Dupont.
On Wednesday, WSP announced their investigation had ended and released its findings. In the report, CO alarms went off before they were silenced by campus maintenance personnel "under the assumption that the alarms sound was due to faulty alarms and not an actual CO leak."
A Texas-based forensic engineering firm flew out to investigate on Dec. 12 and determined the source of the CO to be a newly installed tankless water heater inside the apartment.
Evidence indicated the source of the CO was a newly installed tankless water heater inside the apartment and the intake and exhaust venting was not installed according to standard.
"This was a tragic yet avoidable situation," said WSP Chief John Batiste.
WSP said its report has been given to the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and Evergreen State College for corrective action.
"Jonathan’s death is a devastating loss. This tragedy has deeply affected our whole Evergreen community, and we will continue to grieve. Our care extends to staff - including student staff - who were there on the day of the tragedy and to students who were injured and who lived nearby," said Evergreen's President Dr. John Carmichael. "We are thankful for the Washington State Patrol’s diligence in conducting a thorough investigation. Their investigation found that lack of training and insufficient protocols for responding to carbon monoxide alarms contributed to this tragic accident. As a result, we are taking numerous steps to ensure our students’ safety - including improving training on incident detection and updating alarm response protocols."
What is carbon monoxide poisoning?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide, or "CO," is an odorless, colorless gas that can kill you.
CO is found in fumes produced any time you burn fuel in cars or trucks, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces. CO can build up indoors and poison people and animals who breathe it.
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What are the symptoms of CO poisoning?
The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are often described as "flu-like." If you breathe in a lot of CO it can make you pass out or kill you. People who are sleeping or drunk can die from CO poisoning before they have symptoms.