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A Small Price to Avoid Tragedy


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I have made a practice of repeating this warning every year at the start of the heating season, in an effort to help avoid needless deaths and similar tragedies.  Let me give it another shot.

 

Until I retired last year, I made much of my living investigating and trying carbon monoxide (CO) exposure cases.  Nothing has caused me greater heartache than responding to a scene where multiple people (and usually including small children) have succumbed to CO poisoning.  This pain is intensified by the fact that most of these deaths were largely avoidable given nothing more than some ordinary sense and care and $50 worth of ordinary technology.  For the benefit of a new generation of appliance users, let me offer the following:

  • CO is an odorless, colorless gas, produced as a by-product of burning fossil and solid fuels; if you have an appliance that burns gasoline, propane, natural gas, or any other petroleum product, or coal or wood, that device will produce some volume of CO; the volume is dependent upon the age and condition of the appliance.
  • If you are exposed to certain levels of CO for a sufficient time, it will kill you - silently and often without warning; it kills you by interfering with the blood's ability to bond with and carry oxygen; in a sense, you will suffocate because your brain and other organs cannot get the oxygen they need to work properly.  You may suffer from headaches and dizziness, and other symptoms may lead you to believe (mistakenly) that you have the flu; if you roll over and try to sleep it off, you may never awaken;
  • The level of CO produced varies with the age and condition of the appliance; if you do not have  regular service performed by qualified technicians, or do not replace the appliance when it exhausts its useful life, you are begging for bad things to happen;
  • Fuel burning appliances utilize a venting system, designed to carry the by-products of combustion (including CO) out of the structure and away from occupants; again, faulty or neglected maintenance can cripple the system and allow this silent killer to linger in the home and reach the occupants.

 

This is all avoidable.  Follow these simple steps to safeguard your families and yourselves:

  • Have every appliance and vent serviced as recommended by the manufacturer, but in any event, at least yearly; be sure that your service technician is properly trained and certified; this is NOT a job for the do-it-yourselfer;
  • Replace worn out or aged appliances and their venting systems; delaying to save a couple of dollars may cost you your life;
  • Never use grilles, hibachis, generators, unvented propane heaters or other fuel burning appliances indoors, or in outside areas immediately adjacent to doors, windows, air intakes or other openings; never operate such appliances inside a garage or basement;
  • Do not run your car or truck for extended periods inside or immediately adjacent to your garage, or in a location where vehicle exhaust can be pulled into the house through a vent, window or other opening;
  • Install a CO detector and alarm in the vicinity of every fuel burning appliance in your home; change batteries and detectors as recommended by the manufacturer; test each unit monthly; DO NOT INGNORE "NUISANCE" ALARMS - you may get no further warnings!  If you get an alarm, leave the house immediately and call the fire department.

 

Please take a few minutes and talk to your family about these safety steps.  It is a small commitment to make certain that they are protected properly.

 

LL

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Let me add...

Your car.

Your car can be poisoning you, much the same way. (Raw gas not being burned and fumes returning through the air system)

My son would say the car gave him headaches.

We never thought about it, untill a long trip (5 hours) made us all ill.

By the grace if God, I pulled out the sleeper sofa in the front room and opened the window above our heads, and myself and 3 kids slept under the fresh air.

The next day, my mother took us in to the Dr.

It was late spring...but she swore we showed signs of carbon monoxide poisioning.

I had the gas guy come check the heater, although it was not in use.

He was the one who suggested having the car checked.

Two cylinders were not burning fuel.

 

Thanks for the reminder...I am getting one for the cabin!

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5 minutes ago, Singin' Sue 71615 said:

Let me add...

Your car.

Your car can be poisoning you, much the same way. (Raw gas not being burned and fumes returning through the air system)

My son would say the car gave him headaches.

We never thought about it, untill a long trip (5 hours) made us all ill.

By the grace if God, I pulled out the sleeper sofa in the front room and opened the window above our heads, and myself and 3 kids slept under the fresh air.

The next day, my mother took us in to the Dr.

It was late spring...but she swore we showed signs of carbon monoxide poisioning.

I had the gas guy come check the heater, although it was not in use.

He was the one who suggested having the car checked.

Two cylinders were not burning fuel.

 

Thanks for the reminder...I am getting one for the cabin!

Sue:

 

Excess amounts of CO can result from incompletely burned fuels; but there still has to be pathway for the exhaust to reach the occupants to produce adverse effects.  I suggest that you have the exhaust system of your vehicle inspected, looking for rust-outs or other perforations or openings.  

 

Putting a detector in your cabin is a great idea, as it would also be to add one to your 5th wheel.

 

LL

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@Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438

Thank you for posting this again this year and every year that you do. This is a very good reminder to me to check my detector and make sure it's batteries are changed.

 

If one wants to know about CO detectors the EPA posts this link on their website that has some good info to add to what Loophole has posted.

https://www.thoughtco.com/carbon-monoxide-detectors-607859

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2 hours ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

Sue:

 

Excess amounts of CO can result from incompletely burned fuels; but there still has to be pathway for the exhaust to reach the occupants to produce adverse effects.  I suggest that you have the exhaust system of your vehicle inspected, looking for rust-outs or other perforations or openings.  

 

Putting a detector in your cabin is a great idea, as it would also be to add one to your 5th wheel.

 

LL

Yes. The car issue was well over 25 yrs ago. Immediately traded it in.

 

Yes, both RVs have fire detectors as well as Co/ Lp detector...

 

Need both for the cabin.

Untill you mentioned this here, I had forgotten.

Will pick them up before I head up next week.

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I am in the process of purchasing the house next door to me.It has the old floor furnace in it. I do plan on putting one in it.

I will have my home tested also.

                                                                                                                                         Largo

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4 hours ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

My CO detector reminded me a couple weeks ago that the batteries needed replacing by suddenly chirping in the middle of the night. Never just remove the batteries and forget about it.

Valid point. Go get fresh batteries immediately if there are none in your home.

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