Carbon monoxide deadly! According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide is deadly and home detectors are now required. Carbon monoxide exposure accounts for 500 deaths and an estimated 15,000 emergency room visits, each year in the United States. In 2009, Colorado lawmakers passed HB1091. The Lofgren and Johnson Families Carbon Monoxide Safety Act, requires all residential properties, to have carbon monoxide detectors installed within 15 feet of each bedroom.
It is important for your families safety, that you purchase a carbon monoxide detector that has been laboratory tested. Do not buy the cheapest model available. Buy one for it’s features and not the price. Even if it means upgrading the one that’s already in the home that you just purchased. Sellers are required to provide detectors, but they are not required to provide the industry best. At the end of the day, it is very cheap protection for you and your family, and if you have a leak that goes undected, you may not get a second chance.
Carbon monoxide is deadly! If your carbon monoxide detector goes off immediately:
- Determine if it is your smoke detector or your carbon monoxide detector going off. You should have both.
- Check to see if any one in the home is experiencing severe headache, dizziness, confusion and/or nausea – all signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. If so, get them or you, out of the home immediately and seek medical attention.
- Get fresh air into the home.
- Call 911 or get to an emergency room. Be sure to tell Emergency Responders that you believe that you have been exposed to carbon monoxide.
- Don’t ignore symptoms especially if more than one is feeling them.
