When you read Mold in the News, surely you think, “Oh, this cannot be good.” And who would have thought mold could be in the news so often! Moldy situations happen all the time, all over the world…and the big ones make the headlines. Sometimes the stories are devastating and unbelievable while others are tales of caution—what to do and what not to do.

So far in 2020, there have been two major mold-related stories in the news.

Baby dies after infection from mold in hospital operating room: “A baby born with a serious heart defect who contracted Aspergillus mold from a Seattle Children’s operating room has died.” Beth, who was barely six months old and undergoing surgery for a severe congenital heart defect, was one of at least five children who died of complications due to Aspergillus exposure.

“She’s (Beth) one of six patients being represented by attorney Karen Koehler, who says all of her clients contracted Aspergillus from Seattle Children’s operating rooms. Five of those six patients have died.”

Seattle Children’s Hospital’s CEO admitted that the hospital had had a mold problem since 2001.

This is a tragic and cautionary tale about what devastating effects leaving mold untreated can have.

West students, staff to be evacuated for mold remediation: Mold inside of schools seems to be a more common thing than we all think—although, that doesn’t mean that these occurrences should be happening.

Students and staff of West Elementary School in Grand Forks have been relocated to an alternate site for learning until the school’s mold problem can be taken care of. The school board deemed the situation an emergency as mold around certain areas of the school “exceeded the acceptable limit.”

“The cost of the mold remediation project is not yet known; it will depend on what workers find when walls are opened, Arnold said. Similar work is needed in some other schools that have been damaged by extensive rains last fall.”

As of now, it is unknown as to how long students will be kept out of their building, but it is definitely an inconvenience to uproot young students in the beginning of the last semester of school.

Both recent mold-related events are unfortunate for all parties involved. It really goes to show that businesses—even schools and hospitals—need to be more diligent about checking for mold on a regular basis and have a professional visit regularly to conduct a thorough inspection. People should not be getting sick and lives should not have to be lost.

If you aren’t quite sure about a moldy situation inside of your home or place of work and are in need of an inspection and a cleanup from a restoration specialist, don’t worry—Restoration Certified Specialists, Inc. will take care of you! They have been proudly serving the Santa Rosa and North Bay areas since 1975.