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Officials at the UVa and Duke University Medical Centers have upgraded the conditions of four of the five girls poisoned by the carbon monoxide leak at the Collegiate Suites Apartment Complex.
Duke University Medical Center has reported that the three girls transported to the hospital, Elizabeth Burgin of Ashburn, Virginia, Carolyn Dorman of Potomac, Maryland, and Nichole Howarth of Chesterfield, Virginia have been upgraded from stable condition to good condition after receiving more oxygen treatments in the hyperbaric chamber. The three girls, all 19 years old and sophomores at Virginia Tech, are expected to be allowed to go home today. Dr. Bret Stolp, an associate professor of anesthesiology and hyperbaric medicine specialist, said that the work of the first responders and everyone in Blacksburg helped save the girls lives. “These women benefited from excellent care and quick decision making at Blacksburg, which has given them the best possible chances for a full recovery," said Dr. Stolp. The girls received their second hyperbaric treatments yesterday and they reported that nearly all of their symptoms have disappeared. Duke University has one of the only hyperbaric chambers in the Southeastern United States that is large enough to treat multiple persons. The other two girls Kristin Julia and Kirsten Halik, both 19 and Hokie sophomores, are at the UVa Medical Center. Their conditions have been upgraded from critical to serious accodring to hospital spokespeople. The hyperbaric champer at UVa is only large enough to treat one person at a time, unlike the one at Duke, which can treat eight people. A hypberbaric chamber involves putting pressurized oxygen into the body to get to oxygen depleted tissues and organs. This is the standard medical treatment for victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. All five girls were residents of the same apartment on 1306 Henry Lane. The other 18 people who went to various area hospitals because of the exposure to the carbon monoxide all have been treated and released. The leak was fist reported when a resident of the apartment building called maintenance complaining of nausea and headaches. A gas company representatve realized it was not a gas leak and called Blacksburg Police, who quickly mobilized and evacuated the building. A faulty valve on a hot water heater was blamed for causing the leak.
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