Fire Fighters Save Family Poisoned by Carbon Monoxide

From Farmington Hills Fire: On February 6, Farmington Hills Fire Fighters responded to a home near Thirteen Mile and Halsted Roads where a woman was taken ill and vomiting. After assessing the patient and other relatives, fire fighters identified the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and evacuated all five family members including a three-month-old infant and a 20-month-old child. All were treated on the scene, and then transported to Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, and Detroit Receiving Hospital, where one person required hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

A Fire Department investigation determined that a malfunctioning furnace was at fault, with carbon monoxide levels determined to be potentially lethal. Carbon monoxide is often called the “invisible killer,” since it is an odorless and colorless gas created when fuels such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane burn incompletely. The signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are similar to the flu and include dull headache, weakness, dizziness, nausea and/or vomiting, shortness of breath, confusion, blurred vision, and loss of consciousness

Fortunately, all five family members survived and have since made a full recovery. The homeowner thanked the Farmington Hills Fire Department for their quick response and said he hoped this would encourage other residents to purchase carbon monoxide alarms.

The Fire Department offers the following safety tips:

• Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms should be installed in a central location outside each sleeping area, on every level of the home, and in other locations where required by law. CO alarms should be interconnected throughout the home so that when one sounds, they all sound.
• Choose a CO alarm that has the label of a qualified testing laboratory and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for placement and mounting height.
• Test CO alarms at least once a month and replace them according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the audible trouble signal sounds, check for low batteries. If the battery is low, replace it.
• If the CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from the fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel arrive.
• If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle or other fueled engines indoors, even if garage doors are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle is not covered with snow.
• During and after a snowstorm, make sure vents for the dryer, furnace, stove, and fireplace are clear of snow build-up.
• Use generators only in well-ventilated locations that are outdoors and away from windows, doors, and vent openings.
• Gas or charcoal grills can produce CO and should only be used outside.

If you have questions regarding CO alarms, call Farmington Hills Fire Prevention at 248-871-2820 or visit the National Fire Protection Association website at www.nfpa.org and search for “Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips.”

For more information about Fire Safety, please contact James Etzin, Emergency Medical Services Coordinator for the Farmington Hills Fire Department, at 248-871-2800.

Photo courtesy of Farmington Hills Fire Department