Carbon Monoxide

"It's a Gas! Gas! Gas!" - lyrics to Jumping Jack Flash

If you live in the New York City region, subscribe to Notify N.Y.C. at https://a858-nycnotify.nyc.gov/notifynyc/  Alerts and notices are available via email, SMS, phone, Twitter or RSS feed.

Registrants can select five notification types for up to five ZIP codes across NYC.

• Emergency Alerts – messages about life-threatening events that may require immediate action. All registrants are automatically added to this list.
• Significant Events Notifications – important information about emergency events, utility outages and other types of high-impact events in your ZIP code.
• Public Health Notifications – information about important public health issues in your community
• Public School Closing/Delay Advisories – updates about unscheduled public school closings, delays and early dismissals
• Unscheduled Parking Rules Suspensions – updates about unscheduled suspensions of citywide parking rules

Bottom Line

As an example, here is a NYC message from 12/17 ....

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reminds New Yorkers to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning by clearing snow from exhaust pipes before starting car engines, avoid running cars in enclosed spaces, and clear snow from the vents of combustion appliances. Never heat your home with a stove or oven.

I should know better but it never occurred to me to check the exhaust pipe of my snow covered car after the blizzard last weekend.

Gas Generator Warning

Portable gas generators, often used by consumers to restore power to their homes and businesses in the aftermath of a storm, produce high levels of deadly carbon monoxide (CO). CPSC warns consumers that generators should be used outdoors only, far from doors, windows, and vents that could allow CO to come indoors. “Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless poison gas. It is an invisible killer,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. “While generators can come in handy after a storm, using one indoors can kill you and your family in minutes." - U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Spotted on the Consumerist, Try Not To Kill Yourself By Using A Gas Generator Inside A Building, in the wake of Hurricane Fay some Florida residents used Gas Generators in unsafe ways.

A survey of more than 10,000 adults found dangerous misconceptions about generator safety. Most respondents (62 percent) believe it is safe to run a generator in a garage as long as the garage door is open. Many (47 percent) also believe it is safe to run a generator in a basement as long as a window is open. But both scenarios caused nearly 100 deaths in 2005.

Bottom Line

The Commission provides these important life-saving tips:

• If you start to feel sick, dizzy or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air right away.
• Keep generators dry and wait for the rain to pass before using a generator. Consumer-grade generators are not weatherproof and can pose the risk of electrocution and shock.
• Do not connect the generator directly into your home's electrical system through a receptacle outlet – this is an extremely dangerous practice that poses a fire hazard and an electrocution hazard to utility workers and neighbors served by the same transformer.
• If using a generator, plug individual appliances into heavy duty, outdoor-rated extension cords and plug cords into the generator.
• Check that the extension cords have a wire gauge adequate for the appliance loads and have all three prongs, including a grounding pin.
• Check to make sure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms have batteries and are working.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

You can’t see or smell carbon monoxide (CO), but at high levels it can kill a person in minutes. When power outages occur during emergencies such as hurricanes or winter storms, the use of alternative sources of fuel or electricity for heating, cooling, or cooking can cause CO to build up in a home, garage, or camper and to poison the people and animals inside. CO is found in combustion fumes, such as those produced by small gasoline engines, stoves, generators, lanterns, and gas ranges, or by burning charcoal and wood.

Hundreds of people die accidentally every year from CO poisoning caused by malfunctioning or improperly used fuel-burning appliances. Even more die from CO produced by idling cars. Fetuses, infants, elderly people, and people with anemia or with a history of heart or respiratory disease can be especially susceptible.

How to Recognize CO Poisoning and What to Do

The most common symptoms of for a moderate level of CO poisoning are severe headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, confusion and fainting. People who are sleeping or who have been drinking alcohol can die from CO poisoning before ever having symptoms. If CO poisoning is suspected, consult a health care professional right away.

Low levels of CO can cause shortness of breath, mild nausea, and mild headaches, and may have longer term effects on your health. Since many of these symptoms are similar to those of the flu, food poisoning, or other illnesses, you may not think that CO poisoning could be the cause.

If you experience symptoms that you think could be from CO poisoning:

• DO GET FRESH AIR IMMEDIATELY. Open doors and windows, turn off combustion appliances and leave the house.
  
• DO GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM and tell the physician you suspect CO poisoning. It can often be diagnosed by a blood test done soon after exposure.

Important CO Poisoning Prevention Tips

• Never use a gas range or oven to heat a home. If conditions are too hot or too cold, seek shelter with friends or at a community shelter.


• Never use a charcoal grill, hibachi, lantern, or portable camping stove inside a home, tent, or camper. Never use gasoline, propane, natural gas, or charcoal-burning devices inside a home, basement, garage, or camper - or even outside near an open window.


• Never run a generator, pressure washer, or any gasoline-powered engine inside a basement, garage, or other enclosed structure, even if the doors or windows are open, unless the equipment is professionally installed and vented. Keep vents and flues free of debris, especially if winds are high. Flying debris can block ventilation lines.


• Never run a car, generator, pressure washer, or any gasoline-powered engine outside an open window, door, or vent where exhaust can vent into an enclosed area.


• Never leave the motor running in a vehicle parked in an enclosed or partially enclosed space, such as a garage.

Bottom Line:

• Every home should have at least one working carbon monoxide detector. The detector’s batteries should be checked twice annually, at the same time smoke detector batteries are checked. However, it is important for you to know that the technology of CO detectors is still developing, that there are several types on the market, and that they are not generally considered to be as reliable as the smoke detectors found in homes today. Choose carefully which CO detector you buy - a little extra money could save your life.

Details taken from the CDC CO Facts and the EPA IAQ web pages.

Fresh Air

"Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans." - Jacques Yves Cousteau

Air - it's everywhere and we take it for granted. But in yesterday's tip, the Rule of Threes, we learned that the #1 priority in emergencies is fresh AIR. Consider:

• 1st Aid and CPR courses teach "ABC"; the first things you check are the Airway, Breathing and then Circulation (pulse/heartbeat).
  
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, more than 500 people die in the U. S. from accidental Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
  
• Again according to the CDC, almost 200 children die each year from choking. It is estimated that more than 17,500 children 14 years of age or younger are treated in U.S. emergency departments for choking episodes annually.
  
• During home or office fires, the major cause of death is the smoke filled air, not burning in the flames. Stay low to the floor where the good air can be found.
  
• When miners are trapped underground, foul air is the leading cause of death.
  
• If the dirty air in a disaster doesn't kill you, it could still give you some serious lung injuries. Asbestos or other pollutants at the scene could raise your risk for later lung cancer. Some vivid images from 9-11 show persons completely coated in dust as they fled from the collapsing towers. Today there are concerns about what was in that 9-11 dust and the long term effects to the survivors and rescue workers.

Bottom Line:

1. Take a moment to think about the air quality when there's smoke, pollutants, or when you are confined to a small space like a car or room. Don't wait until you feel faint - that is often too late.
2. When firemen are wearing an oxygen tank and mask - what have you got? Hopefully your emergency kit will have a simple face mask to keep airborne particles and dust out of your lungs. No face mask? Then use a shirt, handkerchief, or scarf to cover your face when the air is thick.

Tomorrow: Carbon Monoxide