23 at School Become Ill After Freon Leak

Fourteen handicapped students and nine faculty members from the Greg Rogers Center for Exceptional Children were taken to five San Diego County hospitals Monday morning after inhaling noxious vapors that had been blown into their classroom from a Freon leak in the school’s rooftop air conditioner.

Most of the victims were treated for respiratory problems and released, hospital officials said. A classroom attendant who was nine months pregnant was transferred to Kaiser Permanente Hospital after she began experiencing labor pains. It could not be learned whether the woman had her baby.

In addition to the students, four other attendants, two teachers, a speech therapist and a foster grandparent received medical attention.

School officials, who evacuated all 120 of the students at the center, said the fire department was alerted after some smelled smoke and issued a fire alarm. Firefighters arrived about 11 a.m. but found no fire. However, after checking the classroom, they discovered the Freon leak.

Paramedics Summoned

Freon, a liquid coolant also used in refrigerators and air conditioners, is not poisonous but can create minor illness and breathing difficulties if inhaled in an area with poor ventilation, according to Dr. Anthony Manoguerra of the Poison Control Center at UC San Diego.

After examining the students, many of whom have respiratory difficulties resulting from their disabilities, firefighters summoned nearby Hartson paramedics, who transported the students and faculty members from the school at 510 Naples Street to the hospitals. The victims were taken to Chula Vista Community Hospital; Chula Vista Scripps Hospital; Paradise Valley Hospital; Coronado Hospital; and Physicians & Surgeons Hospital downtown.

There were 17 other students in the class, but firefighters decided they did not need medical attention. Police said many of the students who were taken to the hospitals had been vomiting. All have speech impairments and were unable to communicate their illnesses to medical officials, said a spokeswoman for the Chula Vista Police Department. The teachers complained of nasal irritation and scratchy throats.

Pat Belden, the principal of Rogers Center, linked the incident to fans in the air conditioning unit, which blew dripping Freon through the classroom’s vent. She said none of the victims made physical contact with the Freon.

“All of the problems were because of the fumes,” Belden said. “A lot of our kids have chronic respiratory problems, and since Freon is an irritant, we had to take precautionary measures and have them checked.”

Belden said the air conditioning unit, mounted on the school’s roof, blows air through vents and into all of the rooms in the center, which teaches only handicapped students.

The center shares its grounds with the Greg Rogers Elementary School, but officials at the school said they have a separate ventilation system, so none of their students was affected by the leak.

Belden said the center had never experienced any major problems with the air conditioning unit, which was shut down until maintenance officials find the cause of the leak.