18 students recovering from sickness during Mass at John Carroll High School in Harford County
BALTIMORE -- Eighteen students got sick during a monthly mass at John Carroll School in Bel Air, prompting an evacuation and early dismissal on Monday morning, according to school officials.
Harford County Fire and EMS didn't find any contaminants inside, leaving parents concerned about what caused the students to be treated at nearby hospitals.
Corrine Vatenos and her sister Eva saw several of her classmates taken on stretchers into ambulances after more than a dozen students became ill in the school's auditorium.
"I saw his bloody nose, I saw him get wheeled out on a wheelchair," said Corrine Vatenos. "I saw kids sitting down who are normally tan and they were yellow faces. I just knew something wasn't right."
"I just felt like people were dropping like flies," added Eva Vatenos. "I didn't know if I was going to be next. I felt a little queasy but I was like watching these people just fall, like did they know they were going to pass out?"
John Carroll School officials said they ended Mass early, but students said they weren't dismissed for at least another 20 minutes, prompting concerns from parents.
"I said if you don't feel comfortable or if something doesn't feel right, just go, don't worry about getting in trouble, just go," mother Monika Vatenos said.
The school said in an email to parents there is no gas heat in the gym or indication of carbon monoxide.
School officials were given clearance by the fire department to reenter the building at 1 p.m. on Monday.
On Tuesday, the school was closed as school officials requested members of the Harford County Department of Emergency Services' Special Operations Team do a second check of the building.
The second check was carried out around 6 a.m. using multiple meters. Officials said all readings were normal and confirmed that this is not an environmental issue.
The building was reopened for after-school activities on Tuesday and resumed on a normal scheduled Wednesday. Officials said Wednesday that the nurses' office didn't report any cases besides typical visits.
