Workers exposed to carbon monoxide at Saskatoon business

Emergency crews responded to a carbon monoxide scare in Saskatoon’s north end.
 
Paramedics and firefighters rushed to Specialty Distributing at 829 48th Street East around 2 p.m. Wednesday following reports that several people had gotten sick.
 
Firefighters found levels of carbon monoxide in the building’s air of  65 parts per million — about seven times the maximum recommended limit listed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
 
28 people were treated at the scene.  M.D. Ambulance reported that two women, 43 and 46, had to be taken to hospital to get their exposure levels down.
 
No one was seriously hurt.
 
The Saskatoon Fire Department reported that a  propane-fueled forklift was the source of the leak.
 
The early stages of carbon monoxide poisoning include symptoms such as headache, dizziness, drowsiness and nausea. The gas causes unconsciousness, convulsions and death at high enough concentrations.
 
“We responded thinking worst-case scenario to this call as carbon monoxide is an extremely dangerous poison, but luckily the exposure was minimal,”  M.D. Ambulance spokesperson Troy Davies said.