Gordon Bombay Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Respiratory Problems Linked To Stay At Local Indoor Waterpark Reported by: Shannon Kettler Web produced by: Laura Hornsby Photographed by: 9News First posted: 3/7/2007 5:25:05 PM Operators of the new indoor water park in Mason are looking for solutions after a number of people have gotten sick. The Warren County Health Department says 15 to 20 people in the last two months have experienced upper respiratory problems after staying at the Great Wolf Lodge. Representatives from various health agencies will have a conference call on Thursday to talk about this issue. They believe it is an indoor air problem, but what's not clear is how it should be fixed. Renee Ferrar of Mason thought a three-day weekend last month would be the perfect time to check out the new Great Wolf Lodge. However, her family's stay at the indoor water park was anything but a vacation. "All four of us had symptoms from something," Ferrar said. "My niece and nephew and in-laws; only one escaped not having symptoms. We talked to other people who had similar symptoms which leads us to believe this was not a fluke." Those symptoms ranged from upper respiratory problems to skin irritation and rashes. The Warren County Health Department and the Ohio Department of Agriculture are working with Great Wolf Lodge to look at their ventilation system. They say it could be the combination of heavy chlorine compounds inside enclosed heated atmosphere. "If you have asthma or other breathing issues you are going to need to use caution if you are going to this facility," said health commissioner Duane Stansbury. "I know they have taken some measures to lower temperatures to see if that would help. They are doing some things currently to address it." Renee Ferrar says the lodge compensated her for part of her family's stay. A return visit is still a possibility. "I think we would go back, but we would be cautious to not stay in the pool area for a long period of time," Ferrar said. "But that's what you want to do is stay in the pool for the fun and that was disappointing." Again, health officials tell 9News this is an air problem and not the water. Those folks with asthma are going to want to be careful if they come here. 9News contacted the Great Wolf Lodge, but calls were not returned by the given deadline of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 I can see this is too much of a surprise. Given the nature of an indoor water park, the chlorine can certainly agitate the lungs of they are sensitive in any way. I can assure you that GWL is a wonderful facility that is dedicated to cleanliness and safety. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubaman Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Hmm...interesting. They put infasis on it being an air problem however. I remember a while back during a KI trip, we were staying at the Kings Island resort. Some bacteria thing was in the hot tub and gave my sister a pretty bad skin rash, kinda like chicken pox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted March 7, 2007 Author Share Posted March 7, 2007 I believe there was a similar type of incident at the sandusky lodge back during the 04 season that was just found to be allergies by numerous guests, not an illness in their lodge like was suspected. Like Ryan said, GWL is a great place to stay, every time I've been the place is always packed but has an excellent staff. Its always clean and has a great atmosphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Tubaman: I LAST stayed at the Kings Island Resort and Conference Center about five years ago. And that was TRULY my LAST stay. Ever. That place has seen better days. To put it mildly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Butcher Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 This situation doesnt suprise me, with the amount of Chlorine used in the facility, Its a wonder the area can even be under a roof. For all we know fumes could have ended up in a closed system as the article states and that area of ventilation will need to be purged and cleaned. Another possible scenario is that GWL looks into some better/more ventilation/fan systems to be placed around the water area to force the smell out away from the pool and most deffinately out of the hallways of the lodge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tycoonrebel7188 Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 I stayed at GWL just this past weekend, and i can vouch that the chlorine is strong. I even had trouble breathing after a while due to my asthma. My friends and I were only in the water park for about 2 -2 1/2 hours, but after I left the water park and returned to my room, my trouble breathing went away. So this was probably just an allergy that these people experienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 They can and will get this fixed. ALL guests should be able to breathe while visiting a waterpark. And all people are sensitive to chlorine. It comes in containers marked poison for a reason. It's all in the dose, and obviously, there is apparently too much of it in the air at the lodge. Again, they will, and must, get this fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubaman Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Tubaman: I LAST stayed at the Kings Island Resort and Conference Center about five years ago. And that was TRULY my LAST stay. Ever. That place has seen better days. To put it mildly. This was our first/last stay there as well. Well, no wait, my sister visited there with a few friends a couple years back. She said it was still as discusting, with food all over the room (Behind chairs etc) and what even looked to be blood on the wall in one place. Needless to say, this is not our favorite hotel in the area...We usualy stay in Blue Ash (at least that is the what I think the area is called) amongst the business hotels when we make overnight trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Sounds like they are using way too much chlorine. I remember when Splat City first opened, the whole area smelled like bleach. Didn't something similar happen at BB a few years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Attack! Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Aww man I sure hope that they don't make the waterpark too much cooler. I always love walking in there and it is like the one place where you aren't freezing you but off when you walk from attraction to attraction...but then again they may have no choice. I have been to the waterpark 3 times, and i have never seen or had any of the people in my group have problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffear1996 Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 I just heard this story on the 11:00 news and they were saying that there is only a small percentage of the guest that stay there and ones who get sick. They also said possible solutions were to vetalate the area better, or limit the amount of guest aloud in the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 NIOSH launches water park probe By Greg Paeth Post staff reporter The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is scheduled to conduct an investigation next week to determine why hundreds of people have complained about headaches and respiratory problems after visiting the Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park in Mason. Members of 85 families - perhaps as many as 400 people - have complained to the Warren County Health Department after visiting the $100 million theme park, located just north of Paramount's Kings Island off of Interstate 71. "They're (NIOSH) the experts on questions like this," said Dan Collins, director of environmental health for Warren County. Collins said NIOSH told him that a team from the Cincinnati office plans to begin its work Monday. Great Wolf Lodge visitors began complaining in early January about burning eyes, breathing problems, headaches and coughing while they were inside the 79,000-square-foot water park, Collins said. Most of the people said the symptoms disappeared after they stepped outside of the swimming area, although some said coughing spells persisted longer, Collins said. "There have been no long-term effects," he said. All of the complaints follow weekend visits, when the park is at its busiest and may have 2,000 to 3,000 people in the swimming and entertainment area, Collins said. Great Wolf Resorts, which owns the Mason facility and nine others in the U.S. and Canada, said a "small number of guests" have registered complaints and that the "vast majority" of its customers have not experienced "adverse symptoms." The company stressed that water quality is tested every two hours. "Ongoing results of these tests have confirmed normal and safe chlorine levels in every instance," the company said in a prepared statement. The health department is working under the theory that the problems have been caused by chloramines, which are created when chlorine, which is used to treat the water, comes into contact with organic materials such as perspiration or dead skin of bathers, Collins said. Chloramines can cause problems if there isn't sufficient ventilation in the water park, Collins said. Great Wolf has called in its contractor and has been working with the health department, said Collins, who added that there is no indication that Great Wolf has done anything wrong. For this weekend, Collins said the health department has recommended that Great Wolf staff monitor chlorine levels carefully so that they don't exceed the minimum standard of one part per million. Officials of the lodge also were told to check the "ph balance" of the water so that it is neither alkaline nor acidic, he said. Great Wolf, a 400-room recreational facility designed for families, opened in Warren County in mid-December. Great Wolf Resorts owns 10 of the lodges in the U.S. and Canada. http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...EWS01/703100348 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan of beast Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 i have not been there yet, but my allergies have been worse this year than ever. it seems that the smallest things can trigger it. it may not be a problem at the lodge. it very well could be southern ohio in general. i travel a lot for my company and when i get a way from here, i have no breathing problems at all. what makes it worse to find any type of cause is that now that its public knowledge, people who have just drove by the lodge will want to jump on the lawsuit bandwagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kwindshawne Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 i have not been there yet, but my allergies have been worse this year than ever. it seems that the smallest things can trigger it. it may not be a problem at the lodge. it very well could be southern ohio in general. i travel a lot for my company and when i get a way from here, i have no breathing problems at all. what makes it worse to find any type of cause is that now that its public knowledge, people who have just drove by the lodge will want to jump on the lawsuit bandwagon. I have lived in Northern Cal, southern cal, virginia, new york and ohio-and this is the absolute worst place to live for repiratory problems. I don't know about the wolf lodge thing, but seems to me-all the people and whatever germs they bring in plus a warm moist environment-well, I don't know-seems like that would create a breeding ground for illnesses. It doesn't scare me away from going to the lodge, but I would think opening the place up monthly and allowing outside air in would be one way to keep the air fresh. Just my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kwindshawne Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 i have not been there yet, but my allergies have been worse this year than ever. it seems that the smallest things can trigger it. it may not be a problem at the lodge. it very well could be southern ohio in general. i travel a lot for my company and when i get a way from here, i have no breathing problems at all. what makes it worse to find any type of cause is that now that its public knowledge, people who have just drove by the lodge will want to jump on the lawsuit bandwagon. I have lived in Northern Cal, southern cal, virginia, new york and ohio-and this is the absolute worst place to live for repiratory problems. I don't know about the wolf lodge thing, but seems to me-all the people and whatever germs they bring in plus a warm moist environment-well, I don't know-seems like that would create a breeding ground for illnesses. It doesn't scare me away from going to the lodge, but I would think opening the place up monthly and allowing outside air in would be one way to keep the air fresh. Just my thoughts. As much as this is home to me, and as much as I would miss it, for health reasons, my ultimate goal is to leave ohio-just because the asthma and allergies keep me miserable 95% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Attack! Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I don't think that they could start filing lawsuits, doesn't seem fair to me, gwl has never done anything neglagent and trust me it is very important for them to create a safe experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I don't think that they could start filing lawsuits, doesn't seem fair to me, gwl has never done anything neglagent and trust me it is very important for them to create a safe experience. Think again. In this day and age, only the filing fee is necessary to file a lawsuit, and in some cases, even that is waived for those who cannot afford it. Just because a suit is filed doesn't mean anything about whether or not it is valid, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 S--t happens. This doesn't look good now, but after it is corrected, people will forget. The percentage of people is very small, but bad news seems to be more significant than good news. I greatly enjoyed my stay at the GWL in January and I believe in the Great Wolf Lodge. Hence, I shall return to celebrate my son's third birthday there. If that's not a vote of confidence for the Great Wolf Lodge, I don't know what is. Have a great wolf day! Italian Chef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN1993 Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 I bet it's a Cleaning nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Nemo Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Heres a little update for all of you. http://www.wlwt.com/news/11214839/detail.h...in&psp=news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Friday, February 06, 2009 MASON — Health officials have finally identified what caused 665 Great Wolf Lodge patrons to get sick in early 2007. The culprit, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, was trichloramine, a known respiratory and eye irritant..... *** ..."Insufficient air movement and distribution likely led to the accumulation of trichloramine and exacerbation of symptoms," the CDC report reads. "Based on recommendations to increase air movement and distribution at the pool deck level, hotel management modified the ventilation system extensively, and subsequently no new cases were reported." http://www.oxfordpress.com/hp/content/oh/s...9greatwolf.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 The ventilation system now turns over all the air in the indoor water park three times every hour, or once every twenty minutes. In addition, there are return air ducts that are located a few feet below the floor level. The return air ducts are used to recover the air with the chloramines and remove it from the indoor atmosphere. It takes six large air handlers (like the size of semis) to clean and turn over the air within the resort three times an hour! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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