Mt. Vernon student still in hospital following medical emergency

A Mount Vernon High School student is still at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids Tuesday after what school officials have described only as a medical emergency occurred on Monday.

School officials sent home a letter to parents Monday night, but a lack of details have rumors are swirling throughout the school.

"At 11:53 a.m. we got a 911 call at the high school,” said Mt Vernon Police Chief Mark Winder. “There was a patient being treated and was airlifted to Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids."

All 400 students and 40 staff members were then put on lockdown for hours.

”We were on lockdown. We let everyone know over intercom they were fine,” said Mt. Vernon Superintendent Dr. Pamela Ewell.

But those outside of the school didn't know what was going on.

“Usually I get a text or phone call recording but I didn't get anything,” said parent Darren Parks.

"First priority is making sure all our children were safe and we really didn't really know all that we were dealing with.”

Well after the lockdown, parents started receiving district alerts. Even when parents tried to pick up their kids, they couldn't.

“We had to restrict the flow of traffic and make sure we were accountable for those that were released.”

Both the district and police say they responded promptly and appropriately, but are still tight-lipped about what actually happened.

“It's very private, very serious and denoted as a medical emergency in our school yesterday.”

But the student body can't help but gossip about the details all over Facebook and Twitter.

“We're giving factual information as much as we can legally respecting the sensitivity of the situation and respecting our family.”

About a dozen counselors are at the school today talking to students and staff. They'll be there indefinitely to accommodate the need. The goal now is to move on with school as normal. Class was in session today and after school activities started up again as well.

Mt. Vernon Letter

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