Tulsa Parents Looking For Answers After Mystery Illness Outbreak

Parents are looking for answers after dozens of kids went to the ER during a school field trip to the jail Thursday.

The kids, along with several adults, had symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The students were at the Tulsa County Jail for a career day visit when they got sick.

It's still not clear what made them ill - and it's left some parents outraged.

It's all smiles and hugs for Mariah Johnston and her friends as Bell Elementary. It's a stark contrast from one day ago.

"We hear a loud bang and we turn around and there's my friend on the floor having a seizure," 6th grader Mariah Johnston said.

Johnston says she fainted next. All she remembers was feeling nauseous, dizzy and scared.

"It was just really scary," she said. "I didn't want to go to sleep because I was scared, what if I don't wake up."

When Johnston did wake up, she was at the hospital. And her grandmother was frantic.

"I had heard it on the news," said Teresa Brewer, Mariah's grandmother. "I knew she was up there."

Emergency personnel say all of the children and eight adults treated had elevated levels of carbon monoxide. The question now: What caused so many people to get sick?

The jail, bus, and school tested negative for excessive carbon monoxide.

"They say it's mind over matter," a Bell Elementary parent said. "They're covering something up. That's all I'm saying. My children got sick."

For Mariah, the entire experience has been confusing.

"I was just so focused on how I felt," Mariah said. "I really didn't pay attention to nobody else."

All of the students and adults were treated and released, with no lasting effects from their illness. EMSA personnel say since all of the students and adults had slightly elevated carbon monoxide levels, it's unlikely students just mimicked others' symptoms during the confusion.

Related Stories:

05/10/2012: Students Hospitalized During Field Trip To Tulsa County Jail

05/10/2012: Tulsa ER Doctor Says Sick Students May Have Been Exposed To Chemicals

05/11/2012: Tulsa Jail Field Trip Illnesses Test Emergency Responders