Five people were transported by helicopter to area hospitals Saturday morning after exhibiting symptoms of possible carbon monoxide poisoning at a Eureka Springs hotel.

Gary Inman, assistant chief for Eureka Springs Fire & EMS, said a total of 24 patients were treated after the incident at Stonegate Lodge on East Van Buren Avenue. Ten were transported to hospitals, including four who were airlifted. One patient initially transported to Eureka Springs Hospital was flown out of that facility in critical condition, the hospital said.

Inman said the cause of the incident remains under investigation. Crews from Black Hills Energy, which provides natural gas service, were on the scene Saturday morning but Inman said it had not been officially determined that the incident was caused by a gas leak.

“That option is being investigated,” he said.

Fire chief Nick Samac said Black Hills would be assisting with the investigation to try and pinpoint the source of a possible leak.

While some patients exhibited symptoms consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning, Inman said, those symptoms also could have been caused by other issues.

“Some of them displayed symptoms, but symptoms are very vague,” Inman said. “They’re also the same symptoms that, say, food poisoning would have.”

Inman said the patients transported by helicopter were taken to hospitals with hyperbaric chambers in case they were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

“They would be able to test for that at the hospital,” he said. “They can purge that out of their system a lot quicker with the hyperbaric chamber.”

Inman said he didn’t know the condition of the patients who were taken to hospitals.

“Once they leave here, we rarely ever get any kind of report back on on how that patient’s doing,” he said.

Eureka Springs Hospital emergency room director Joy Kennedy reported that the hospital treated 10 patients involved in the incident. Two of the patients were walk-ins, Kennedy, said and the rest were brought to the hospital by EMS. One critical patient was flown out by air ambulance and another was admitted to the hospital.

“The rest of them – the majority – had moderate symptoms and were treated appropriately and discharged home,” Kennedy said.

This is the first mass casualty situation she’s handled since becoming ER director, Kennedy said. To treat all the patients, two respiratory therapists and four nurses were called in for additional help.

“We had other disasters in the past, but it’s been quite some time,” Kennedy said. “It was all hands on deck. We all worked as a team and got the patients treated quickly and efficiently.”