Two swimmers remain hospitalized after exposure to chlorine at Utah's pool

PLEASANT GROVE – Two patients stayed Wednesday in two different hospitals in Utah County after a dangerous exposure to chlorine in a crowded public pool a day earlier.

When rescuers first cleared the swimmers at the Pleasant Grove Veterans Memorial Pool, 582 E. 300 South, Tuesday, most people did not know why. This has proven to be a frightening emergency for exposed children and their parents.

Up to 50 people became ill after large amounts of chlorine were inadvertently pumped into the water. The majority of victims were treated and released from two different Utah County hospitals later in the night.

But Luke Burnett, who was the last child out of the pool, stayed at the Timpanogos Regional Hospital until late Wednesday afternoon, when he was allowed to go home.

Luke said that he still felt stomach pains, but that nothing resembled the dizziness and motor loss of the 5-year-old girl just after exposure to chlorine.

"I was a little terrified," said his mother, Amanda Burnett.

The mother said that it was like a movie scene.

"The rescuers started whistling," she recalls.

She had just warned her four children ten minutes before the family had to leave. She saw Luke in the middle of the pool and called him.

While Burnett was preparing to leave with her children, she still did not know what had happened. She thought to herself that there could have been a drowning or injury. Then she saw the chaotic scene grow around her.

"I looked around me and there were children coughing and children who were foaming their mouths and vomiting blood, bloody noses. I turned around (and said) "What's going on?", Said Burnett.

Leaving the pool, the police directed the children and parents to the doctors.

"I watched all my children and none of us was coughing, none had any symptoms," Burnett said. "I thought, OK, we're going to stay here."

But in a few minutes, Luke became extremely lethargic.

"It's just a bit like moving your head without really keeping it straight," Burnett said.

He was also starting to have blisters under his eyes. They watered it, as they did with other people who had been exposed to chlorine, but Luke was still struggling. The paramedics checked his blood oxygen level, found that he was low and sent him immediately to the hospital.

"And then, the descent was so fast," Burnett said.

The majority of patients who ended up in the hospital have been breathing small amounts of chlorine and should not have persistent problems, doctors said.

"So we had to make sure that they did not develop burning in the mouth, esophagus and stomach," said Dr. Dustin Monroe, intensivist pediatrician at Timpanogos Regional Hospital.

Everything was on the bridge at the hospital on Tuesday night. Timpanogos Regional Hospital employed additional staff and adopted its massive loss management plan for the first time and had to sort patients upon arrival.

The doctors administered respiratory treatments and oxygen therapy for the respiratory lesions due to the inhalation of chlorine.

"Some of the kids will still have a cough," Monroe said. "When chlorine gas affects your respiratory system, it can damage the cells inside your lungs. It will take time to heal. "

Those who have breathed larger amounts or even ingested sips of water may have other concerns that they will have to monitor with their doctor.

The Pleasant Grove Veterans Memorial Memorial Pool was shut down on Wednesday as the authorities inspected the pump and monitored the chlorine levels in the water.

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Editor's note: An earlier version mentioned that Luke Burnett had been hospitalized at Utah Valley Hospital. This article has been corrected to indicate that he has been hospitalized at the Timpanogos Regional Hospital.

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