Family Found Dead Overnight. I bought 3 more household Carbon Monoxide monitors today

[DandyDon]

Thanks John. I hadn't really looked at the lightening stats to check; I figured that facts were wasted anyway, but good to put the truth into the record still. Still if one could protect against strikes so simply and cheaply as plugging a cheap CO monitor into the wall it'd be a great idea even as less likely as lightening is.

Sorry, I misread the lightning stats. Happens.

These are non existent problems. You'll most likely get herpes, hiv, die from a car crash, get killed by a terrorist, etc. I'll sell you anti-all-those for $100. Replace as needed. No warranty or liability implied.

And if there was any value to your offer, I'd buy. Being a pedestrian may be more dangerous and I have to dodge idiots in dark clothes on local streets all the time, whereas I carry at least one light ready to use in case I walk at night, more if planned, and don't walk in streets - but that's a different issue too.

Irony would be if I died from it tonight.

There is no point in trying to protect people from their own bad choices, i.e. the darkly dressed nighttime street walkers, you not wanting to take basic safety precautions, etc altho I hope you're luckier and had your heating unit professionally inspected last fall. Still up to you since you obviously have been presented with the risks, the easy solution, and still choose to live with that choice.

Informing those who don't know is important tho. Gawd, it was 4 degrees here south of Amarillo this morning. Been a long time since we've seen such here. A lot of people will be firing up secondary heating systems across the south from here to the Atlantic, people less likely to be well prepared for this weather and using questionable systems so the risks increase.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Yeah, nice try. What percentage of homes have a CO detector? CO deaths is what, 1 out of 610,000 people? I'm willing to bet that the percentage of people who have them is less than the required amount to ensure that number stayed as low as it is. CO death is non existant. Sorry dude.

I disagree completely. I have seen people die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Granted, I work in the one hyperbaric facility in North Carolina that takes CO poisoning emergencies so that's the viewpoint I'm coming from, but this is an illness that occurs all too frequently. It is very easily preventable, at minimal cost, so why not prevent it? There's no way of telling how many carbon monoxide poisoning cases are averted by CO detectors. To assert that they aren't necessary, not to mention suggest that carbon monoxide poisoning/death is a nonexistent problem, is a logical fallacy. Wormil, if you PM me your home phone number, I'll gladly make sure you get a call for every carbon monoxide poisoning patient we treat or consult on for the next year or so. We just had two of them at about 3 this morning..... you and our on-call nurse could have talked about them over pots of coffee.

 

[Wormil]

I disagree completely. I have seen people die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Granted, I work in the one hyperbaric facility in North Carolina that takes CO poisoning emergencies so that's the viewpoint I'm coming from, but this is an illness that occurs all too frequently. It is very easily preventable, at minimal cost, so why not prevent it? There's no way of telling how many carbon monoxide poisoning cases are averted by CO detectors. To assert that they aren't necessary, not to mention suggest that carbon monoxide poisoning/death is a nonexistent problem, is a logical fallacy. Wormil, if you PM me your home phone number, I'll gladly make sure you get a call for every carbon monoxide poisoning patient we treat or consult on for the next year or so. We just had two of them at about 3 this morning..... you and our on-call nurse could have talked about them over pots of coffee.

Adding trains and removing cars would prevent traffic fatalities, for which there are far more of every year. If you want a CO detector, do it. Prevent your own death.

I'm sorry, but if you work in a field where people who are dying of something rare come for treatment, you're going to see them more than everyone else. How many EMTs see fatal car crashes. How many surgeons see people die on the table? Nice try.

My argument is that this problem is so small, it's not even a blip.

As for my cell, I'll setup one so you can have them call. I'll personally tell each patient they should have bought a CO detector.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I'm sorry, but if you work in a field where people who are dying of something rare come for treatment, you're going to see them more than everyone else. How many EMTs see fatal car crashes. How many surgeons see people die on the table?

Granted. I noted this myself, and that's the viewpoint that I'm coming from, so it may be different than most.

My argument is that this problem is so small, it's not even a blip.

It's pretty small, but it is a public health problem with potentially fatal consequences and it's very easily preventable. Let's apply the same rationale to another scenario. The rate of HIV transmission from patients to health care workers was extremely low even before implementation of universal precautions, but the consequences were grave. Universal precautions were an easily implemented solution, but we shouldn't advocate wearing gloves, goggles and masks for contact with body fluid since the chances of getting HIV are so low even without them. That logic just doesn't wash.

As for my cell, I'll setup one so you can have them call. I'll personally tell each patient they should have bought a CO detector.

That's closing the barn door after the horse is out. Why not advocate installing CO detectors before the incident?

There are many sources of CO poisoning, and some of them are insidious. One of the most prolific researchers in the field is Dr. Neil Hampson from the Virginia Mason hyperbaric center in Seattle. He tells a great story of buying a portable CO detector and bringing it on a trip to a remote fishing lodge. When he got there, he heard a beeping from his suitcase and thought it was his cell phone. Turns out it was his CO detector, which had picked up heavy carbon monoxide emissions from a faulty water heater directly beneath his room. He'd have been a goner if he'd gone to sleep that night. I'm not advocating that everyone carry a portable CO detector on vacation, but I'll bet that Neil Hampson brings his.

Another case sticks in my mind. About two years ago, we treated a 6-month-old boy who'd been in an apartment with his family. His father had been complaining to the landlord about the bad water heater in their apartment for a number of months. Luckily, the father had the foresight to buy a carbon monoxide detector. It went off one night when he was away from home, and likely saved the life of that baby and his mother. They still come to visit us.

Of course, these are individual cases, and as you and I both pointed out, my experience is different than most. However, I would reiterate that carbon monoxide poisoning is a very easily preventable public health problem, and that's not a function of my viewpoint, that's plain fact. The recommendation of the Duke Hyperbaric Center is to install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors in your home. It's cheap, it's easy, and it may save your bacon.

 

[Wormil]

That was a good post. You sir, win an internets.

 

[DandyDon]

He'd have been a goner if he'd gone to sleep that night. I'm not advocating that everyone carry a portable CO detector on vacation, but I'll bet that Neil Hampson brings his.

I am! So many of the news CO stories I am seeing involve hotels and other temporary abodes, and - they are the kind that we have the least control! They're small. I live alone so I'll just grab the one in my bedroom, remove the batteries and pack in a TSA friendly case, and stick in my bag until I arrive.

For a driving trip, I'll just take the one from my '95 Ford in.

The more I learn about CO risk the more I am grateful to have survived to learn.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

That was a good post. You sir, win an internets.

Thanks for providing the inspiration and good debate!

 

[DandyDon]

I am! So many of the news CO stories I am seeing involve hotels and other temporary abodes, and - they are the kind that we have the least control! They're small. I live alone so I'll just grab the one in my bedroom, remove the batteries and pack in a TSA friendly case, and stick in my bag until I arrive.

Carbon monoxide eyed in Harrison surgeon's death | baxterbulletin.com | The Baxter Bulletin
Excerpting: The Arkansas County Sheriff's Office says Dr. Tom Bell and William Hicks of Yellville were found unresponsive early Saturday morning at a duck club near De Witt. Police say the 75-year-old Bell was pronounced dead and that Hicks was taken to a Little Rock hospital, where he is in serious condition.

Hen party sister to be told of Miriam's hotel gas death - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie
Excerpting: THE grieving family of the woman who died from suspected gas poisoning in a Cork hotel are now preparing to break the news to her older sister, who was found slumped beside her.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

Hen party sister to be told of Miriam's hotel gas death - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie
Excerpting: THE grieving family of the woman who died from suspected gas poisoning in a Cork hotel are now preparing to break the news to her older sister, who was found slumped beside her.

This one is from Ireland, right?

 

[DandyDon]

This one is from Ireland, right?

Yep, down in the southern part of the island as I recalled from a visit decades ago. The Blarney castle & stone are just north of there, Waterford & factory to the east. Hen Party is like what we call a Bachorlette Party. Anyway, so many of the CO news stories involve hotels and other overnight accommodations, again - where we have the least preventative control, I'll be a fanatic and carry my CO monitor on any trip now...

From Tragic Miriam sent a text to ask if anyone else felt sick - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie

A YOUNG woman texted her cousin asking if anyone else was feeling ill just hours before she died in a gas-filled hotel bedroom.

Tragic Miriam Reidy (35) fell ill hours before she eventually succumbed to the carbon monoxide fumes.She complained of feeling unwell at 5am but went back to bed.

Earlier, at 4.25am, Miriam had sent a text message to another cousin, Mairead Reidy, querying whether anyone else in their group had suddenly fallen ill. She was discovered dead in her bedroom just over seven hours later. Miriam died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning before she could be rushed to hospital.

It has also emerged that Miriam's sister, Patricia Reidy (37), desperately tried to save her. Patricia was found semi- conscious in the same room.

The women had been attending the hen party of their cousin, Marie Reidy. Marie, a nurse at Tralee General Hospital discovered the pair and tried to save them. While she was able to save the life of Patricia, it was too late for Miriam.

"Marie did everything she could to save them," said family friend Cllr John Sheahan.

"She performed CPR on Patricia until the paramedics arrived and it's thanks to her there seems to be some ray of hope for Patricia in Cork hospital."