A kitchen worker was hospitalized, and five others were sickened by a carbon monoxide leak at a Georgia jail, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
It was discovered late Monday, July 15, in the kitchen at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Sheriff Pat Labat said in a news release.
Authorities said employees started showing signs of nausea and other symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure, prompting an immediate evacuation.
One contract employee drove herself to a hospital and was admitted, the sheriff said. Five other workers were treated at the scene and are expected to be OK.
The leak was confined to the kitchen, and no inmates were affected.
“This leak is yet another example of the challenges caused by an aging, underfunded jail with infrastructure problems that have led to other resident health issues and stabbings with weapons fashioned from parts of the building,” Labat said in the release.
An independent contractor confirmed a “high level of carbon monoxide” and traced the leak to one of eight kettles that are used to cook “sometimes as many as 11,000 meals” at the jail daily, the sheriff’s office said.
Carbon monoxide is produced when fuels such as gasoline, kerosene and natural gas are burned, according to the National Poison Control Center.
When inhaled, the colorless, ordorless gas “prevents your blood cells from carrying enough oxygen,” experts say. “The brain and heart suffer quickly, but all body organs are harmed by lack of oxygen.”
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, dizziness, vomiting and confusion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sheriff’s office officials said the jail had meals prepared ahead of time, though it’s not clear when the kitchen will reopen.
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