Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated 3.28 PM
NUI MAYNOOTH HAVE said that six of the 25 children treated after potentially inhaling chemical fumes at a swimming pool in NUI Maynooth were hospitalised.
The university and Kildare Fire Service had earlier said that all 25 children had been taken to hospitalafter the scare.
The children were taken to hospital as a “precaution” according to the university.
The children, all aged under-9, were swimming in the campus pool at about 10.30am this morning when they became aware of the fumes and were taken outside and assessed by the university’s medical team.
The fumes are believed to have entered the pool area through a ventilation system and originated from maintenance work that was being carried out nearby.
A number of ambulances were dispatched by the National Ambulance Service and the children were transferred to Crumlin and Tallaght Hospitals as a precautionary measure.
None of the children are believed to have been seriously affected but six were hospitalised with the others returning to school.
NUI Maynooth have confirmed that vapour from the swimming pool’s plant room entered the air conditioning system during a maintenance operation.
The incident is now being investigated by NUI Maynooth and the Health and Safety Authority.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Exaggerated reporting 101.
6 were taken to hospital as a precaution. The rest are at home.
That was probably a really scary event for all the kids involved .
Hope all are ok.
I think it was more distressing for the parents. The children will bounce back as they do.
All are fine from what I hear from parents in the school. Just being kept in for observation.
Parents were seen running to their nearest solicitor !!!
NUI Maynooth can confirm an incident occurred at approximately 10.30 a.m. this morning at the campus swimming pool when vapour from the swimming pool’s plant room accidently entered the air conditioning system during a maintenance operation.
The swimming pool was immediately evacuated and the 25 children present were assessed by both the University’s Medical Team and the National Ambulance Service. As a further precaution six children were brought to hospital and the remaining 19 children have returned to their school.
This incident is being investigated by both the University and the Health & Safety Authority. The swimming pool remains closed until further notice.
Deirdre Watters
Director of Marketing & Communications
NUI Maynooth
Hi Steve,
Both NUI Maynooth and Kildare Fire Service had earlier said that 25 children were hosptialised, as did a number of other news outlets. That was later revised downwards, all of which is detailed in the article.
Rónán
Thanks Ronan. After I posted I saw the same numbers on other news sites and realised you were just acting on information provided.
I want to know what kind of maintenance were they doing in the plant room to created the fumes ??? Also as a pool plant engineer why is the fan extraction system present in the plant room feeding the pool hall !!
Glad that everyone is safe. And highlights the importance of our ambulance service, and the great role paramedics and firefighters play in responding to emergencies.
That said, if this was a Thursday there’d have been no ambulances available in Maynooth because our service was cut on Thursdays 18 months ago. Scaremongering it may be, but how long before there’s a major incident in the area on a Thursday and people are hurt because of these cuts?
Exaggerated reporting 101.
6 were taken to hospital as a precaution. The rest are at home.
It was very scary.4 ambulances continued to monitor the kids after they were returned to school. Kids mostly recovered very well, a few still in for observation
The janitor must of been on the Guinness all weekend and thought it would be safe to drop a few bombs in the plant room with nobody around.
Pointless comment , chlorine is so dilute in a pool it isn’t that bad ! Only fumes are when plant operator is mixing the solution in day tanks and this is confined to plant room area which should be well ventilated with louvred doors. Most modern pools use chlorine tablets which reduce the chance of any chlorine gas.
Eh the story states that the fumes entered the pool area from the plant room so how is it a pointless comment? I’m not a swimming pool specialist, just saying that chlorine is a very nasty substance..
Yes chlorine is dangerous but the manner in which it’s diluted in pools is safe . If chlorine is mis managed then yes it’s dangerous as well but pools have close standard operating procedures that should prevent an incident. The fact work was being carried out and fumes were present would assume that the plant manager has failed .
They use chlorine for sterilizing the pool water which is really nasty in its gaseous form. The exposure limit is 0.5ppm (parts per million). Let’s hope it wasn’t that..
Ah the poor little mites. Hope they all get home soon.
have your say