Wednesday of last week, a family was rushed to the hospital because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Mary Burgener was in her home with her 12-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. Mary’s brother, Adrian was downstairs next to the furnace–the source of the leak. When Burgener woke up and smelled some kind of gas, she knew something was amiss. She found her brother downstairs, lying unconscious.
Mary and her two children just had their last treatments in hyperbaric chambers to clean out the carbon monoxide in their system, and the three of them are doing well. Adrian is still unconscious.
The family had a carbon monoxide detector, but it had not been checked in a while, and had stopped working.
Carbon Monoxide is colorless, odorless and tasteless, but deadly. You have to be vigilant about watching out for it. Make sure your carbon monoxide detector has been checked, at least in the last year. It is designed to go off when abnormal levels of CO are in the air. They should be as crucial to a home or office as a smoke alarm.
Be aware that CO emittance can come from furnaces, and carbon-based materials and fuels, car exhausts, and even refrigerators. Every home or office is in danger of carbon monoxide pollution to some extent.
You can have CO poisoning without realizing it. If you feel flu-like symptoms that may come and go, or are exacerbated in certain places or at particular times of the day, you should get yourself checked out. Even animals can be effected by the gas.
Protect yourself by prevention, and then quick action. From all of us atChristensen & Hymas, keep yourself safe!
Story and image brought to you by KUTV.