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I was sitting here working in my home office thinking of ideas for a safety saves article when the gas heater in our house kicked on. Instantly my cheapometer went off and I scrambled to throw a log on the fire. No reason to pay a utility company for natural gas when I have piles of firewood stacked up! After the log was on the fire, the running furnace made me think of checking our CO detectors and the fact that I have not since last year. Well, if you have not guessed by now the topic this issue is Carbon Monoxide (CO). This safety topic is a very important thing to pay attention to at home, work, hunting, camping, ice fishing, the list goes on and on!
I remember some years ago a logger who got CO poisoning in his camper. The camper was relatively new and had an onboard generator that was running but due to the air currents the generator exhaust apparently was getting into the camper. When he thankfully woke up to his alarm, he had no memory of waking up or tuning the alarm off. Instantly the crew realized something was wrong with him, they took him into the hospital and sure enough he had CO poisoning. He ended up in the hospital for half a day getting Oxygen treatment but was a very lucky fellow that he had set an alarm that woke him up.
CO is a colorless, odorless gas produced by burning material containing carbon (most organic compounds). Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause brain damage and death. You cannot see it, smell it, or taste it; but carbon monoxide is deadly. Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control, accidental CO poisoning claims over 400 lives per year and causes 100,000 emergency room visits, and 14,000 hospitalizations. Common sources of CO are motor vehicle exhaust, smoke from fires, engine fumes, and nonelectric heaters. Carbon monoxide is produced by common household appliances as well like; Gas water heaters, Propane heaters and stoves, grills, etc.
Exposure to carbon monoxide is most commonly accompanied by the following symptoms: headache, dizziness, nausea, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, shortness of breath on exertion, impaired judgment, chest pain, confusion, depression, hallucinations, agitation, vomiting, fainting and seizure. Carbon Monoxide saturates your blood cells, and limits their ability to carry oxygen. Once you get CO poisoning, just getting to fresh air will not do it. The treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning is high-dose oxygen, usually using a facemask. Carbon monoxide levels in the blood are periodically checked until they are low enough to safely send you home. In severe poisoning, if available, a hyperbaric pressure chamber may be used to give even higher doses of oxygen. The pure oxygen will force the CO out of your blood cells and end the CO poisoning in your system.
What about CO detectors? First, they are only good for 5-7 years if they are combo smoke and CO or 10 years if they are CO only. When they have reached the end of their life, they will emit a beep and light flashing that will not stop with a new battery; this means they need to be replaced. Taking out the battery so it stops beeping is not a fix! (Yes, I have been guilty of that one too!)
If you heat your home with Natural gas, propane or a wood stove do yourself and your family a favor and check your CO alarms if you have not already this fall/winter. For all you loggers and log haulers that stay in your campers ALWAYS keep both your smoke and CO detectors maintained and operational; especially when its cold out and you are running the heaters! These little sensors can really save a life and it might just be yours! Remember $afety $aves
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