Two Officers, Two Medics Overcome by CO in Pa.

March 30, 2014
Two Bethlehem police officers and two paramedics were overcome by carbon monoxide while at an apparent heart attack call.

March 29--Two police officers and two paramedics were overcome by high levels of carbon monoxide late Friday in a south Bethlehem home, according to police radio reports.

At 11:30 p.m., officials radioed frantically for ambulances to help the police and paramedics at 724 E. Seventh St. City and Bethlehem Township EMS units, and possibly others, were dispatched.

A Bethlehem firefighter said the paramedics and police initially went to the house on a report of a resident suffering an apparent heart attack.

The carbon monoxide victims were taken to St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill for treatment. They were designated as Class 3 patients, that is, patients with a moderately serious illness or injury.

The police and paramedics complained of light-headedness, dizziness and nausea, according to medics on the scene. The source of the gas was not immediately clear.

It was not known whether residents at the South Side house also were affected by the gas, which is toxic in high concentrations.

-- Frank Warner

Copyright 2014 - The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

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