I read somewhere that while 94 percent of homes have fire alarms, only 13 percent have carbon monoxide detectors.

The reason I started thinking about this is that in the last two days, one person in San Francisco was killed and several people in SF and Cupertino were injured and hospitalized due to carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Carbon Monoxide can be deadly.

Carbon Monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas and is produced anytime fuel is burned (many household appliances emit the stuff in small and safe levels.)  Sometimes, when an appliance isn’t working properly or is being used incorrectly, higher levels of the deadly gas are emitted and can kill within minutes. 

It’s not difficult to protect yourself. 

These events serve as a reminder about just how important it is to have a carbon monoxide detector installed in your home.  Though in the San Francisco case, it appears that there was a detector installed, and it was working, and in fact, had been beeping for a day – but someone still lost their life.  Which means you not only have to take precautionary measures, but be ready act.

What to do if your Carbon Monoxide detector goes off?

According to the EPA’s website:

• Make sure it is your CO detector and not your smoke detector.
• Check to see if any member of the household is experiencing symptoms of poisoning.
• If they are, get them out of the house immediately and seek medical attention. Tell the doctor that you suspect CO poisoning.
• If no one is feeling symptoms, ventilate the home with fresh air, turn off all potential sources of CO — your oil or gas furnace, gas water heater, gas range and oven, gas dryer, gas or kerosene space heater and any vehicle or small engine.
• Have a qualified technician inspect your fuel-burning appliances and chimneys to make sure they are operating correctly and that there is nothing blocking the fumes from being vented out of the house.

What are symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning?

Early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, nausea and fatigue.  Unfortunately, these symptoms are often mistaken for the flu.  By the time the symptoms get severe, heart and brain damage can occur.

If you don’t already have a Carbon Monoxide detector, GET ONE!

There’s no good reason for you to not have a detector in your household.  If you need help choosing one, check out this site for a little help.  IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!