Twenty-two workers at the Great Lakes Rubber & Supply Inc. in Glendale were taken to hospitals

Twenty-two workers at the Great Lakes Rubber & Supply Inc. in Glendale were taken to hospitals

Twenty-two workers at the Great Lakes Rubber & Supply Inc. in Glendale were taken to hospitals Monday afternoon after they were sickened by carbon monoxide that leaked from a broken ceiling heater, North Shore Fire Department officials said.

Four of the more seriously ill workers were taken to St. Luke's Medical Center because it has a hyperbaric chamber that provides concentrated oxygen treatments, said Jeff Weigand, battalion chief for the North Shore Fire Department.

Three of the workers required treatment in the hyperbaric chamber Monday afternoon, according to Jennifer Gross, a spokesman at St. Luke's Medical Center. The three were released from the hospital Monday evening, Gross said later. Weigand said carbon monoxide levels of 27% and 15% were registered in a few of the workers. He said the average carbon monoxide level for a smoker ranges from 5% to 8% and for non-smokers it's below 5%.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Weigand said, the Fire Department received a call that several of the workers at the plant at 6150 N. Flint Road had become ill and that there was a carbon monoxide leak. Workers were complaining of severe headaches and nausea, he said. The plant, which employs 36, was evacuated and closed, he said. Great Lakes Rubber makes seals, gaskets and rubber hose clamps. Weigand said the carbon monoxide leak occurred when a pipe from a heater in the ceiling rusted through and separated from the vent.

Tom Baumann, president of Great Lakes Rubber, said needed repairs would start immediately so that the plant can reopen. "It's distressful to see the workers sickened," he said. "We're mostly worried about them. It's not been a good day."