Carbon Monoxide: the Silent Killer and How To Stop It

There are over 500 accidental deaths happening every year in America due to carbon monoxide poisoning. It may not sound like very many – unless it is one of your loved ones. I can identify with it because I lost my husband to carbon monoxide poisoning. It happened in 1996 in Argentina while he was stopping by at his nephew’s little apartment. If the apartment was installed with a carbon monoxide detector, they could have survived then. Stop this from happening to you or your family.

You cannot see, smell or taste this gaseous substance, so if it is left undetected, it can take a life of a person. What makes accidental death by carbon monoxide poisoning so tragic is that it can be easily preventable by installing carbon monoxide detectors along with smoke alarms and making sure batteries in both are up to date and changed on a regular basis. Include in your routine when resetting your clocks come by fall and spring, to replace the batteries on your alarms. In that way you’ll remember it always.

Other safety measures need only use your common sense. For instance, never use charcoal grills or camping stoves inside the house, make sure all electric appliances such as hot water heaters, stoves, furnaces, space heaters, fireplaces and wood stoves are inspected, and chimneys are well ventilated and working properly. If you have fuel- burning appliances, then you need a carbon monoxide alarm. Cars with motors on and on standby in the garage emit CO that can leak into the house. Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of incomplete combustion because of insufficient oxygen from burning fuels such as oil, gas, propane, wood, charcoal, and methane. During winter, most houses use their furnaces, wood stoves or fireplaces as a source of heat, which also can be a source of carbon monoxide, so exercise caution. By no means should your gas oven be the source of heating the room. In case of a power outage, never, ever use your generator inside the house, because they produce carbon monoxide. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, between the years 2000-2005, over 250 people died from generator related carbon monoxide poisonings, that it is like putting hundreds of idling cars in your home. An estimate of 15,000 people end up in the hospital every year because of carbon monoxide poisoning. It is difficult to diagnose since the symptoms are similar to the flu and other illnesses, and it is estimated that many people are misdiagnosed.

Be alert of particular symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning such as headaches, extreme fatigue, abnormal drowsiness, queasiness, frailty, chest pains, vertigo, and shortness of breath. Do not delay in consulting your physician if ever you think that you have warning signs of CO intoxication, but first take some fresh air into your lungs.

One outside the bedroom within earshot distance and one for every floor of the house are the recommended number of carbon monoxide alarms to be set up inside the house.

If ever the carbon monoxide detector installed in your house goes off, and one or all members of the family are showing signs of CO poisoning, quickly vacate the house and call the emergency hotline.

Secure your premises by using a smoke carbon monoxide detector. Get them now at Safe Home Products where you can pick a variety of selections.

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