Two workers were hospitalized, one of whom had to be flown to the hospital in critical condition, after they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning on a construction site in Woodstock.
The Woodstock Fire/Rescue District responded around 1 p.m. Friday to the 3800 block of Riverwoods Drive in Woodstock for a report of a carbon monoxide incident.
Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Battalion Chief Zac Beatty said the incident occurred in the Riverwoods subdivision, which is a new construction residential area.
Responding crews were advised that two people were possibly suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, Beatty said.
First responders arrived and determined that two male victims had been exposed to dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide.
The carbon monoxide had been generated by a pressure washer operating in an area with inadequate ventilation, Beatty said.
The workers were inside a home that was under construction. The new subdivision is located west of Doty Road and north of Lucas Road.
One of them was in critical condition and a LifeNet medical helicopter was requested to respond and meet the ambulance at the helipad at Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Woodstock, Beatty said.
The helicopter then flew the man to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge for treatment.
The second worker was stable at the time and transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Woodstock.
Beatty said the fire district reminds residents of the extreme danger posed by operating gas-powered equipment indoors or in poorly ventilated areas.
“Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can quickly reach life-threatening levels,” he said.