Dozens Of Students Hospitalized With Heat-Related Illnesses After Band Practice
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Dozens of West Virginia band students became sick from a heat-related illness.
Marshall County Schools tell news outlets around 35 students were taken to three hospitals Thursday after becoming sick from the heat-related illness. All but one of the students had been released from the hospitals by Thursday evening.
More than 100 middle and high school students had gone to a stadium to practice for the "Middle School Night" performance that was scheduled for halftime at a football game. This was the first year students practiced on new artificial turf. Officials say the surface of those fields gets about 20 degrees hotter than the air temperature, which was in the 80s.
School officials say they also had a limited amount of water available for the children.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)