Rachel Greco

Lansing State Journal

All students have been treated and released from hospital

Episode began Tuesday night

OLIVET – Fire department officials say carbon monoxide poisoning is not to blame for sickening dozens of Olivet College students and sending them to area hospitals.

But they also do not know yet what made them sick.

Maria Davis, provost and dean at the college, said school officials reopened the dormitory where most of the 55 sick students were residing at about 3 p.m. Thursday.

The students were housed at Blair Hall, a men's dormitory built in the 1920s. It was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after several of them were hospitalized at area hospitals with symptoms that included headaches, dizziness and nausea. All of the students had been released and returned to campus by Thursday morning, but stayed at Cutler Event Center with others from Blair Hall while it was closed.

"The hall was been deemed safe by all of the medical professionals that we consulted," said Davis, Thursday afternoon.

The cause of the symptoms has not been determined, but college and Olivet Fire Department officials said carbon monoxide poisoning has been ruled out.

"It's definitely not [carbon monoxide]," Fire Chief John Collins said. "It's a virus or something else."

Olivet Fire Department spent three hours on campus conducting carbon monoxide tests, he said. The department also installed carbon monoxide detectors in Blair Hall. College officials said Olivet brought in another company to conduct more air tests as well.

Davis said there were no carbon monoxide monitors in the building before Wednesday. Collins said the private university, with about 1,000 students, is not legally required to have those monitors installed. However, Davis said, the required fire monitoring devices are in place.

"There is fire monitoring equipment in the building. We are absolutely in line with legal expectations," she said. "I need to reiterate that there is not a problem with carbon monoxide in this building. That's pretty clear."

Davis said additional buildings on campus were also tested for carbon monoxide but no elevated levels were found.

Olivet College spokeswoman Molly Goaley said the students were admitted to the hospital between Tuesday and Wednesday. Davis said all but five of those students live in Blair Hall.

The episode began Tuesday night, when a student living in Blair passed out without explanation, said Kaylin Holley, a freshman at Olivet. The man was taken to the hospital.

"When all the commotion died down, we suddenly had three more male students, who also live in Blair, pass out unexpectedly,"

she said.

"It's nerve-wracking knowing that this could happen to anybody in a place where we have to live," she added. "You would expect a residence hall to have some sort of monitor for these types of things that have such serious outcomes."

Olivet freshman Sime Ljuvicic, 18, said the first student affected was found "passed out" in his dorm room.

"The next day, I heard somebody else passed out and then somebody else passed out," Ljuvicic said. People were just passing out and now I can't go back to my room. That's all I know."

Zach Bingham, resident adviser at Blair, said a second student was found unconscious in the dorm hallway around noon the next day.

Bingham said he and several other students there were tested at the dorm for carbon monoxide poisoning. Bingham said he and several others were sent to the hospital because the test indicated their CO levels were high.

Bingham said doctors released them later that day.

Some Blair resident and Olivet freshman Rick Canales, 19, said he didn't experience any of the symptoms other residents did. He was on the opposite side of the building from where many of the sickened were.

Although students reported symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning, Goaley said none of the college's buildings tested positive for elevated levels of the gas.

Hayes Green Beach spokeswoman Darice Darling said hospital test results of the students also indicated their symptoms were not tied to carbon monoxide exposure.

"We treated them and they were all released with normal levels of CO," said Darling.

But Olivet Fire Lt. Mike McLeieer said on-site carbon monoxide testing isn't always accurate.

"It's not a real good test but it is an indicator that we may need additional follow up," he said.

Dr. Robert Schirmer, medical director for the Barry-Eaton Health Department said health officials there are working with college officials to try and determine the cause of the illnesses.

Schirmer said officials are interviewing students who were sick and reviewing their hospital test results. They have ruled out an infectious disease or food poisoning, he said.

Schirmer said he does not believe Blair Hall is unsafe. "We could not see a reason for them not to open the dorm," he said.

Davis said the affected students were checked by a medical professional Thursday on campus to ensure they are feeling better.

"Right now we don't have any strong leads," said Davis. "We're working through all of this. We have no definitive answers at this point.

Olivet President Steven Corey could not be reached for comment.