Each year more than 500 people in the U.S. die and more than 100,000 people visit the emergency room due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning. The vast majority of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented with proper education and an up-to-date detector in the home.
What the heck is it?
Carbon Monoxide, or CO, is a toxic gas with no smell or taste. It can cause permanent brain damage or death when inhaled and is undetectable without proper detection equipment.
What does it do?
Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to poisoning although anyone can succumb. Acute CO-poisoning symptoms consist of headache, dizziness, sleepiness, and nausea. As CO poisoning progresses, it can cause convulsions, delirium, and increased heart rate. Prolonged and excessive exposure without relief inevitably causes death. Those who have been exposed and survive are at risk for permanent brain, cardiovascular, and upper respiratory damage.
How does it get into the home?
Carbon monoxide is produced whenever a material burns. The most common unintended exposure occurs in homes with fuel-burning appliances and those with attached garages. Appliances and devices like furnaces or boilers, wood and gas fireplaces, gas ranges and stoves, motor vehicles, grills and other lawn equipment, generators, and gas dryers are some of the culprits.
How can you protect yourself and your family?
Ensure your appliances are properly vented and well-maintained and make sure rooms are ventilated when using a fuel-burning appliance. Have your appliances inspected on an annual basis to ensure they are in good condition. Never use outdoor appliances like grills and heaters indoors.
Pay attention to signs carbon monoxide may be building up in your home. Things like brownish-yellow stains around an appliance, stale, stuffy or smelly air in your home, and soot, smoke, or back-draft in the house from a chimney can all be indicators of an issue. Occasionally CO is accompanied by other smells like propane or gasoline and those smells within your home could also indicate the potential for exposure.
Know the symptoms of CO poisoning and don’t ignore early signs like tightness across the forehead, followed by pounding of the heart and headache. When progressive poisoning occurs, the victim’s face becomes extremely red accompanied by dizziness, weariness, and mental changes. If you suspect you may be experiencing symptoms, leave the home immediately and seek medical care.
Install CO detectors in your home, ensure they are properly powered, and regularly test them. Detectors are available at hardware stores for around $30. They should be placed on every floor of your home, including the basement, inside an attached garage, and within 10 feet of each bedroom door. And even if you have a small single-level home, install at least two detectors in case one of them is defective or stops working. Replace detectors every five to six years.
Too many people suffer from CO poisoning when it is completely preventable.
If you don’t have carbon monoxide detectors in your home, get them today. If you have them, test them right away. We want you to be around and healthy for decades to come!
What the heck is it?
Carbon Monoxide, or CO, is a toxic gas with no smell or taste. It can cause permanent brain damage or death when inhaled and is undetectable without proper detection equipment.
What does it do?
Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to poisoning although anyone can succumb. Acute CO-poisoning symptoms consist of headache, dizziness, sleepiness, and nausea. As CO poisoning progresses, it can cause convulsions, delirium, and increased heart rate. Prolonged and excessive exposure without relief inevitably causes death. Those who have been exposed and survive are at risk for permanent brain, cardiovascular, and upper respiratory damage.
How does it get into the home?
Carbon monoxide is produced whenever a material burns. The most common unintended exposure occurs in homes with fuel-burning appliances and those with attached garages. Appliances and devices like furnaces or boilers, wood and gas fireplaces, gas ranges and stoves, motor vehicles, grills and other lawn equipment, generators, and gas dryers are some of the culprits.
How can you protect yourself and your family?
Ensure your appliances are properly vented and well-maintained and make sure rooms are ventilated when using a fuel-burning appliance. Have your appliances inspected on an annual basis to ensure they are in good condition. Never use outdoor appliances like grills and heaters indoors.
Pay attention to signs carbon monoxide may be building up in your home. Things like brownish-yellow stains around an appliance, stale, stuffy or smelly air in your home, and soot, smoke, or back-draft in the house from a chimney can all be indicators of an issue. Occasionally CO is accompanied by other smells like propane or gasoline and those smells within your home could also indicate the potential for exposure.
Know the symptoms of CO poisoning and don’t ignore early signs like tightness across the forehead, followed by pounding of the heart and headache. When progressive poisoning occurs, the victim’s face becomes extremely red accompanied by dizziness, weariness, and mental changes. If you suspect you may be experiencing symptoms, leave the home immediately and seek medical care.
Install CO detectors in your home, ensure they are properly powered, and regularly test them. Detectors are available at hardware stores for around $30. They should be placed on every floor of your home, including the basement, inside an attached garage, and within 10 feet of each bedroom door. And even if you have a small single-level home, install at least two detectors in case one of them is defective or stops working. Replace detectors every five to six years.
Too many people suffer from CO poisoning when it is completely preventable.
If you don’t have carbon monoxide detectors in your home, get them today. If you have them, test them right away. We want you to be around and healthy for decades to come!
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