9 students fall ill after fitness test at ITE College East; HazMat team find ‘no abnormalities’
The Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) hazardous material (HazMat) response team was activated on Monday morning after nine students complained of feeling unwell following a physical test at the Institute of Technical Education’s (ITE) College East’s campus.
SCDF said that it received a call for assistance at 10 Simei Avenue at 10.30am and took nine people to Changi General Hospital.
The Straits Times understands that the group, a mix of male and female students, had just taken part in the 2.4km run segment of their National Physical Fitness Award (Napfa) test which involved 396 students.
The HazMat team and a fire engine were sent down to monitor and conduct tests in the vicinity, SCDF said, but no abnormalities were detected in the surrounding environment.
Responding to queries from ST, ITE College East principal Dr Yek Tiew Ming said that as of 7.50pm, seven of the students have been discharged and the remaining students are in stable condition and waiting to be discharged.
The students were accompanied by their parents and teachers throughout the duration of their stay in hospital, Dr Yek added.
Dr Yek said: “The NAPFA test is an annual assessment on physical fitness and as a standard practice, students will undergo three weeks of training to build up their fitness.”
Safety measures, such as the conducting of a warm up, were put in place before the 2.4km run. Students were also told to stop the run if they felt unwell and checkpoints with water dispensers were set up to receive students who were unable to complete the run, he said.
Dr Yek said that ITE has suspended the Napfa test “for the time being”.
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