Gas leak sends water polo players to the ER

On Thursday, Aug. 22, 11 boys’ varsity water polo players from Samo were hospitalized for chlorine gas inhalation caused by an unintentional gas leak at the Drake Pool on campus. According to Samo principal Dr. Antonio Shelton, at 9:30 a.m. the construction team was working by 7th and Michigan and hit a natural gas line. Soon after, gas all throughout campus was entirely shut off. Consequently, the pumps and injectors used to infuse chlorine into the pool needed to be restarted from the boiler room. At the same time the boys’ varsity water polo team began practice in the pool, maintenance went down to Samo’s boiler room to start the pumps again. Chlorine gas was sitting in the injector, causing vacant gas to be expelled into Samo’s Drake Pool when the pumps were restarted from the boiler room.  Josh Threlkeld (’21), one of the 11 players hospitalized from this incident, was practicing in Samo’s pool when the toxic gas began to leak. “We were in the middle of a scrimmage and we all started smelling something weird. The goalie noticed some bubbles coming out of the water. Our coach yelled at us to get out of the pool and we all ran outside,” Threlkeld said.  Following this occurrence, the team members were taken to the emergency room due to toxic chlorine gas inhalation. According to ncbi.gov, in very severe cases, chlorine gas inhalation can result in death from pulmonary edema, or excess fluid in the lungs. However, reactions all depend on the duration, dose of intake and extent of treatment. As their exposure to the chemical was brief and they were provided treatment shortly thereafter, the affected players recovered from the incident without complications. “To my understanding [the 11 athletes hospitalized] were only exposed to the gas for around 15 seconds or so,” Shelton said. After the incident, SMMUSD brought in a city pool company to examine how this occurred. Ultimately, it was confirmed that the cause of the chlorine gas leak was, in fact, gas in the injector. In order to prevent this kind of accident from occurring in the future, Samo is creating safety measures to ensure a more secure future for aquatic athletes.  “We are putting in a little safety piece to insure chlorine gas cannot enter the pool the same way again, and we are also putting in place measures that guarantee nobody is in the pool when they are working on the pool in the boiler room,” Shelton said. Although Samo has taken measures to ensure this situation will not happen again, some parents are not satisfied. Even with hospital bills reimbursed, the damage has been done and a family is in the process of currently filing a lawsuit against the district. All things considered, the players are in good health and will continue to play throughout their season.