Dozens of people, mostly children, were treated for unknown respiratory ailments Saturday after swimming in a South Lubbock hotel pool.
First responders set up a medical triage in front of Embassy Suites hotel, Slide Road and South Loop 289, to treat 24 people who started having trouble breathing while in and around the hotel’s indoor swimming pool.
None of the patients’ ailments were considered life-threatening, said Chris Teague, director of Lubbock EMS.
Investigators with the city and Fire Marshal’s Office believe the problem happened when an automatic pool chlorination system released too much of the cleaning agent into the water, said Elliot Eldredge with the Lubbock Fire Marshal’s Office.
Several parents and children who were in the pool area at about 5 p.m. said they noticed an overwhelming smell of chlorine coming from the pool.
Many of the children in the pool started coughing and immediately evacuated the room.
