Sunday, April 8, 2018

Carbon Monoxide News April 8, 2018, posts updated frequently

Every day is a carbon monoxide safety education day.
Scroll back in time through our archives for previous CO News links.
We can learn from others mistakes and efforts to prevent poisoning.

Carbon monoxide safety, we are all in this together.

“We are asleep with compasses in our hands.”

Daily News Links Are Below These Opening Questions And Warnings
How much carbon monoxide are you in when in any motor vehicle?

Did you know that many people do not measure the air they breathe.

After prevention there is no greater awareness than measurement.
Awareness leads to quick thinking. Measurement leads to quick action.

Are you in the know?

Do I know enough about carbon monoxide and carbon monoxide poisoning to justify never knowing how much is in the air I breathe every day, everywhere I go?”

There are some people who want to be notified of the presence of carbon monoxide at levels or concentrations as soon as the gas is present, at concentrations well below those that can instigate poor health symptoms but not be high enough levels to sound the CO alarm they own.

There are some people who do not want to push a button on their CO alarm to see what low, aggravating levels of the poison might be in their home, or anywhere.


The most recommended CO Alarm in U.S. is a high level alarm

Standard for Single and Multiple Station Carbon Monoxide Alarms
UL 2034
1.3 Carbon monoxide alarms covered by this standard are not intended to alarm when exposed to long-term, low-level carbon monoxide exposures or slightly higher short-term transient carbon monoxide exposures, possibly caused by air pollution and/or properly installed/maintained fuel-fired appliances and fireplaces…

Bob Dwyer
Carbon Monoxide Safety Association

COSA provides Carbon Monoxide safety education and training.

World Wide Reports - Pollution and Health Effects 
Carbon Monoxide News Links –
More news links below

Delayed Report
Carbon Monoxide in PA Plant Sends 121 Workers to Hospital
Firehouse.com (press release) (blog)
April 07--Wednesday and Thursday, 121 workers in a Humboldt Industrial Park plant went to the hospital after carbon monoxide was found in the plant Wednesday afternoon. Hazle Twp. Fire Chief Scott Kostician said the fire company was called to Tech Packaging at 5:16 p.m. Wednesday. - The plant has a natural gas-fired heating, ventilating and air conditioning system and about 20 propane-powered forklifts, Kostician said. - Joe Hull, R.N., manager of the emergency department at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton, said 54 workers were seen Wednesday beginning at 6 p.m., and another 67 were seen Thursday. - "We assessed them for exposure to carbon monoxide," Hull said. "They definitely had been exposed to carbon monoxide, but nothing serious. They were treated and discharged. To see that many people at one time, it took everybody working together as a team."

Volunteers help update smoke detection at a Vallejo mobile home park on Saturday
Vallejo Times Herald
On Saturday she was especially grateful because several groups joined together to help the home owners there install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on their properties. Representatives from the home owners association, cadets from Cal Maritime, members of the Promised Land Church, the fire department, Rebuilding Together Solano County and other volunteers donated their time and energy to updating or installing the life-saving devices where needed. Others helped people weed and clean up their yards. - Adam Young from the Vallejo Fire Department spoke to residents about fire safety. “Close your eyes,” he told them. “Where do you sleep? Imagine yourself waking up and its smokey. How do you get out?”

UPDATE: Prescott man found dead after house fire identified
Hastings Star Gazette
An elderly man was found dead Friday when firefighters responded to a house fire in Prescott. - … died of probably carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation, which will be confirmed by toxicology testing. Results will be released once testing is complete. Based on evidence at the scene and preliminary autopsy results, foul play has been ruled out. - Heavy smoke and heat prevented officers from getting into the home right away, who were advised that one resident may be inside. - Prescott Fire arrived on the scene shortly after police…

Another close call – please get smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Poultney fire leaves three without home
Rutland Herald
POULTNEY — “We were just sitting in the living room watching the news, and we thought we smelled a candle burning,” - “When we opened the bedroom door, we saw the flames.”  - The family first tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher, - “When we arrived, there was heavy smoke but no flames,” said Poultney Fire Chief Aaron Kerber. - He said the cause of the fire was electrical in nature, and was contained to one room. - The fire chief said the home is salvageable, and the fact that the doors were closed helped curb the speed at which the fire spread…

Fire officials rule Scottsboro apartment fire an accident – faulty kitchen appliance led to the death of 3
whnt.com
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – “We found one working smoke alarm in the downstairs unit which was not the origin” said Chief Necklaus. – “First and foremost and most absolutely, working smoke alarms I believe can make a difference in most of the fire fatalities we see.” – “It’s a little bit of a defeat, a little bit of a personal hit when these things happen” said Chief Necklaus…

Safety Education - Poster Contest Listing
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
We challenged middle school students to create posters warning people about the dangers of poisonous carbon monoxide (CO). Did students ever step up to the challenge! We received 700 poster entries – a record number!        Watch the video of the winning posters.

Please Note: "Place a carbon monoxide alarm with a digital display on a seat in the motor vehicle when you are out driving in emergency snow conditions (or always for that specific). Harmful levels of carbon monoxide (CO) can penetrate inside a motor vehicle just due to prevailing winds and exhaust not moving away from the vehicle but under it. If you want to learn more about carbon monoxide, begin measuring it with a personal CO monitor everywhere you go." Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety 
  
Scroll Down For More of Today's CO & Air Quality News Links 
Please, stop diagnostic errors; start testing for carboxyhemoglobin
Journal of Neurology and Neuroscience
Carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication is one of the main causes of poisoning in industrialized countries and it often leads to diagnostic errors…

Carbon monoxide intoxication. 
nih.gov
However individuals with ischemic heart disease may experience chest pain and decreased exercise duration at COHb levels between 1% and 9%. COHb levels between 30% and 70% lead to loss of consciousness and eventually death…


Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips
National Fire Protection Association
… If the CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors or by an open window or door. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel….

NOTE: Listed U.L. 2034 & CSA 6.19 Carbon Monoxide Alarms
VISUAL DISPLAY:
Must not display under 30PPM in normal operation
AT 70, 150 & 400 PPM display must be accurate within plus or minus 30 Percent

SENSITIVITY TESTING: Resist alarming first times shown, must by second shown time
70PPM [PLUS OR MINUS 5PPM ... [BETWEEN 60 _ 240 MINUTES]
150PPM [PLUS OR MINUS 5PPM] ... [10 - 50 MINUTES]
400PPM [PLUS OR MINUS 10PPM ... [4 - 15 MINUTES]

“CITIZENS WILL CONTINUE TO DIE & BECOME SERIOUSLY ILL DAILY!”

George Kerr (1933-2017)

More news links below –

We have all been CO poisoned, some more than others
The following link takes you to a site with views from those who have been poisoned. The seriousness of carbon monoxide poisoning, the grief, suffering and disorientations experienced are clearly portrayed with the intent to help others and prevent future poisonings. With respect, please visit: Carbon Monoxide Survivor

What is in the air you are breathing right now?

What will you be doing today; walking into poison?
Who will be responsible for the air you breathe?
You may be the only person who can prevent your own poisoning.
We are all vulnerable to carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning.
Everyone has been poisoned by CO and will be poisoned again. The degree of the poisoning depends upon allowing yourself to be in a situation where someone else controls the air you breathe and the mechanisms for alarming notification.

Please read the alarm information on the package and in the instructions that come with the carbon monoxide alarm. Know that if it is a U.L. 2034 Listed product (or CSA 6.19 Listed), it is a high level alarm that has been tested to alarm no sooner than 70 PPM at the lowest (the alarm must resist for one hour when above this level) and when over 400 PPM before 15 minutes at the highest concentration, after resisting alarming for 4 minutes when over this level.

Know when your fire department and emergency responders begin wearing their breathing apparatus and what their civilian evacuation levels are for carbon monoxide; it may be as soon as the gas is present in your presence. Pregnant women, infants & children, people with heart & respiratory struggles, those suffering depression or chronic headaches and all people of vulnerable health should be alerted as soon as the gas begins to concentrate, around 10 PPM (parts per million) or lower.

You most likely need a low level carbon monoxide detector to sound off when carbon monoxide hazards are just beginning, not after you’ve been exposed to levels that make you have headaches, flu-like symptoms, increased tiredness, heart stresses or worse.

Do not take risks with carbon monoxide. Take responsibility for the air you breathe and the combustion systems you are responsible for. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for others, unless you think $45.00, high level protection is good enough.

Help prevent injuries and deaths; don’t guess about carbon monoxide. Measure carbon monoxide for safety and knowledge. The more you test the more you learn. GET BUSY

Measurement is continuing education at its best. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety
"Love Song To The Earth" - Official Lyric Video

CO, Air Quality & Pollution News Links

Burns fill Sedona's sky with smoke
Sedona Red Rock News
Davis said people with heart or lung disease, the elderly and the very young are at greatest risk from wildfire smoke. To avoid irritation from wildfire smoke, he said you should monitor local air quality reports and plan to remain indoors when air quality is poor or make plans to leave the affected area…

Pollution Rules Suspended Since Harvey Go Back Into Effect
Houston Public Media
Pollution rules suspended since Hurricane Harvey in counties hit by the storm are now back in effect. - Thursday afternoon, Governor Greg Abbott’s office lifted waivers on the rules that cover pollution from refineries, cars and other sources. - The governor’s decision also came just a day after a coalition of Texas environmental groups asked for the rules to be reinstated, saying the waivers posed ongoing health risks to people across southeast Texas and were no longer needed more than seven months after the storm…

Sperm whale killed by plastic pollution washes up on Spanish coast
Telegraph.co.uk
A sperm whale found dead on the coast of Murcia in southern Spain was killed by gastric shock caused by ingesting 29 kilos (64 lb) of plastic waste, authorities in the region said on Friday. - The young male’s stomach and intestines were found to contain rubbish including plastic bags, raffia sacks, pieces of nets and ropes and even a plastic jerry can, marine experts said following an autopsy. - An endangered species, the sperm whale is the largest toothed whale and has the biggest brain of any creature on earth. - Its natural diet is composed mostly of squid and its expected lifespan is roughly equivalent to a human’s, at around 70 years…

Attorneys General Sue EPA, Scott Pruitt Over Pollution Requirements
news9.com KWTV
"Over 115 million Americans – including at least one in three New Yorkers – are breathing dangerous levels of smog pollution. By continuing to ignore its legal obligations to cut this dangerous pollution, the Trump EPA is turning a blind eye to public health – and the law. Attorneys General will continue to fight back to protect our residents and our states."…

US Energy Information Administration
Energy Information Administration - EIA - Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government...

Sit and rest a while; miss the children, prevent repeating this tragedy.
Corfu carbon monoxide deaths: Memorial unveiled in Horbury
BBC News
A memorial bench to two young children who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu has been unveiled in West Yorkshire…


To all parents everywhere; grief's pain alerts others

Out of tragedy comes the light of love
Chester County Press
Inside, Carly and Daulton had passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas tank was empty and the ignition was still on. Fumes from the exhaust had been drawn into the car through the air vents… “One of the best things for me is to talk to parents who have also lost a child,” Donna said.

VideoNex
In this informative and succinct video, learn how to identify and appropriately execute the use of a CO2 Fire Extinguisher…


CDC Carbon Monoxide Poisoning 
New Movie Release 2015
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. Public domain video from CDC. Carbon monoxide (sometimes referred to as CO) is a colorless, odorless gas produced ...
A well put together video is found with the next link, but remember: U.L. 2034 Listed CO Alarms are high level alarms. Use them for protection against acute levels, but be aware you can still experience symptoms of the poisoning even though the devices are in place.

DailyMotion
About Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

JEMS.com - ...site has been designed with this in mind – to create a visual, interactive, educational resource which can hopefully end incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning and save lives… For more information, please visit - www.thesilentkiller.co.uk


Who is responsible for the air you breathe?

Take control inside your homes. 

-Link to: → CO alarm standards – 
The lowest U.L. 2034 & CSA 6.19 carbon monoxide alarm test point is:
- 70 PPM to 149 PPM –resist one hour, must alarm before 4 hours

Please read the alarm information on the package and in the instructions. Know when your fire department and emergency responders begin wearing their breathing apparatus and what their civilian evacuation levels are for carbon monoxide; it may be before 70 PPM. It is for pregnant women, infants & children, the elderly and all people of vulnerable health. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety

Tribute
George Kerr, a pioneer in smoke and carbon monoxide alarm manufacturing passed away in his home during the early morning of July 4, 2017. George will always be remembered for his passion to save lives and protect the health of people through low level carbon monoxide detection and alarming. He lived for over 84 years, beginning his career in fire safety in 1953. “We’ll never know how many lives we’re saving, but I know we are saving a few.” George E. Kerr (1933-2017)

These following links may be of some use to you:
- The World Clock - Time Zones






- Carbon monoxide toxicity-Emergency Medicine Ireland
- Carbon Monoxide Survivor- Views from those who have been poisoned.
- Carbon Monoxide detection- National Fire Protection Association
· Please take CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY CARE during all holiday and everyday activities.

National Conference of State Legislatures Thirty-two (32) U.S. states along with the District of Columbia have statutes that require carbon monoxide detectors in certain buildings. Updated May 2017
Alaska | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Illinois | Iowa | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan |
Minnesota | Montana | Nebraska | New Jersey | New Hampshire | New York |
North Carolina | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island |Tennessee
Texas
| Utah |Vermont | Virginia | Washington |West Virginia | Wisconsin |

Red Cross - Disaster Relief to safely assist law enforcement, fire department, utility company, city, county and state authorities as repair and rebuilding moves forward. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety

Nationally, the Red Cross provides food and shelter to people affected by as many as 70,000 fires annually, or about one fire every eight minutes.

The following companies
are acknowledged for their continued support of carbon monoxide safety education and this daily news blog. They may just have what you are looking for.

The Energy Conservatory
Masimo - see RAD 57
Mahugh Fire & Safety
ESCO Institute
TPI - Test Products International
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