Health departments looking into Albert Gallatin field trip
The Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Maryland Department of Health have been notified by Albert Gallatin High School administrators to investigate an incident over the weekend that left 12 students sick after a field trip to the nation’s capital.
A parents meeting was held Tuesday evening at AGHS to address any concerns and update the students and parents as to what has been addressed.
According to U.S. Army Maj. Jason Dunkelberger, the first student was vomiting at about 7:15 p.m. Saturday. Another student reported chest pains, dizziness, difficultly seeing and was nauseated, he added, before the bus carrying 49 students made a stop at an exit in Friendsville, Md. More students then started to experience nausea, chest pain and headaches, he said, and were transported to Garrett County Hospital in Oakland, MD, Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., and at Uniontown Hospital. AGHS Principal Jason Hutchinson said students were discharged shortly after that.
An exact cause for the symptoms has not yet been determined, according to Hutchinson, who explained that the health departments received the students’ names, a bus roster of where everyone was sitting and an itinerary of the trip.
As members of the school’s Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Program headed by Dunkelberger, the students were touring Washington D.C. and visiting some of the sites, which included the White House, several memorials and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“As an administrator, anytime you go anywhere on a bus and take a group of kids, you don’t — I don’t want to say you don’t sleep — but you don’t relax until they get back,” said Hutchinson, adding that he received the first call about the illnesses at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday. He said he received a text message that all students had been discharged at 2:45 a.m. Sunday.
About seven ambulances were on the scene, in addition to a local police and fire department in Friendsville, Dunkelberger said. Upon arrival, one emergency official instructed all remaining students to exit the bus. Files containing critical medical information about the students, their insurance information and contact information was provided to chaperones who were on the ambulances with the affected students. Parents were notified immediately, he said.
“A lot of them were experiencing a high level of panic,” Dunkelberger said.
A parent said that blood work done at Ruby Memorial Hospital confirmed her child had carbon monoxide poisoning, while another parent whose child was treated at Garrett County Hospital said the blood work confirmed food poisoning. Since then, the administration has been closely monitoring the students who have returned to school, Dunkelberger said. Some students who were absent on Monday returned to school by Tuesday.
“There were a couple of hospital visits here and there,” Dunkelberger said prior to the meeting. “The parents haven’t told me any catastrophic stuff so far.”
While it still remains unclear what caused the mysterious illnesses in the students, Hutchinson said there were several rumors on social media, and nothing is valid yet.
“We can only control what we know and what happened there,” Hutchinson said.
With the unexpected circumstances, Paul Barkefelt praised the administration, chaperones, and students for being cooperative throughout the entire trip. Many other parents echoed the same sentiments as well as Dunkelberger and Hutchinson.
“I was there, and from every student who was on that bus to every adult that was on that bus, (they) did exactly what needed to be done,” Barkefelt said. “As far as any of these rumors going around and stuff, it’s crazy.”
Georgia Minor questioned whether counseling was available for any of the students who were affected, in which Hunkelberger said one student had already seen the school’s social worker about it.
Following the meeting, Minor explained her daughter was the first to experience the symptoms and is still recovering from the ordeal. After being treated at Garrett County Hospital on Saturday, she said her daughter was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for further treatment on Sunday. Blood work was done at both facilities, but no results are available yet.
“Her thought process is all skewed,” Minor said, who added that her daughter missed school Monday and Tuesday. “She has a severe headache still. Now she doesn’t want to go in chartered buses anymore.”
She added that a student told her that the monitor used to measure carbon monoxide was only put in the front of the bus and wasn’t placed in the back where students fell ill.
Parents and students will be informed of any further information once it becomes available, Hutchinson said.
“To stand in front of you and speculate, I’m not going to do that,” he said during the meeting. “However, if we get something back concrete, we’ll be the first ones to let you know what it is on our end.”