Five children under the age of six have been treated by paramedics after suspected chemical exposure at Laurie Laurence swim school on the Gold Coast this morning.
One child was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition with respiratory issues shortly after 8:00am.
A Queensland Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said a "dispersal technique" was used to ventilate the area at Flagstone Drive in Burleigh Heads.
Swim school operator and celebrated swim coach Laurie Lawrence said children in the class began to suffer respiratory problems in the class this morning, but it was still not clear what had caused the children to experience breathing issues.
"No chemical was reported by the fire brigade when they came and did tests, no chemical in the air was detected and we can't detect any excess in the pool itself … So it's a bit of a mystery," he said.
Mr Lawrence said contacting emergency services was a precautionary measure.
"We wanted to make sure that everything was okay … o ne of the parents was a local GP so she said, 'Let's take this little boy out and do something," he said.
"She washed him down then I had one of my people administer oxygen for him.
"As a precaution, we rang the ambulance and the fire brigade. The fire brigade took all the internal tests in the pool and couldn't find anything."
Mr Lawrence said one of the boys was taken to hospital. The other children will be monitored during the day.
Classes cancelled
Mr Lawrence said the pool would be closed for the day.
Healthy Swim Australia is assisting with testing.
"We've tested the water every hour since and it's been perfect. So I'm still trying to work out exactly where the issue is," Mr Lawrence said.
"But in order to be safe, we closed down lessons for the day and refunded anyone's money.
"Our first port of call is to our clients — to the health and well-being of our clients."
