A RESCUE team will be deployed at a public high school in Negros Occidental on Monday following the reported hyperventilation syndrome attack to some 23 students.

Personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of Salvador Benedicto in Negros Occidental will be deployed on Monday, June 25, at Sofronio Carmona National High School in Barangay Igmayaan.

They will monitor the students after 23 suffered difficulties in breathing, chest pain, and panic attack, a day after 17 students also experienced the same medical problem.

Of the 23 students, 17 of which were the same students who experienced the same condition last Thursday. They were from Grade 7 and 8, aged 14 to 15. They were given first aid and have recovered already.

Rodel Pamini, officer-in-charge of MDRRMO, said members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), local police, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and other concerned agencies will also augment with them to evaluate and check the main cause of such medical problem at the school. The DSWD will also conduct a debriefing to the students.

Mayor Lawrence Marxlen Dela Cruz ordered again the suspension of classes of the said school last Friday because of the recurrence of the incident. It will resume on Monday.

Pamini said the initial cause of it was the moisture or chemicals allegedly coming from the septic tank at the school's comfort room. It was already fixed but they will also check the paint that is being used in the construction of the school building if it contributed to the problem.

Overcrowded classrooms is also a factor, as they exceeded the ideal number of students per classroom which is 40.

Some of the classrooms at the school has 65 to 70 students.

"We will know the main cause after we finished our observation," Pamini said. (GYM/SunStar Bacolod)