Firefighters: As temperatures fall, carbon monoxide poisoning cases rise
Feb 23, 2018, 9:18 PM
FARMINGTON – On average, more than 400 people die nationwide each year from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Many others can suffer from lasting effects, including brain damage.
Farmington Fire Chief Guido Smith said calls for CO poisoning tend to go up during the winter months. Often, victims already have CO detectors.
“Sometimes it’s malfunctioning,” Smith said. “Most carbon monoxide detectors have a lifespan of eight to ten years.”
Smith explained CO poisoning often comes from furnaces that have not been properly maintained, or where snow has covered up exhaust pipes.
“Carbon monoxide comes from any incomplete combustion,” he said. “Gas ovens, stoves, furnaces, oil furnaces. Anything that uses combustion as a heat source, but for one reason or another isn’t ventilated properly, and therefore the gases are returned to the compartment that a person is in.”
Smith said CO detectors should ideally be kept in each living area of the home.
He said victims sometimes describe flu-like symptoms. Symptoms can also include dizziness, weakness, nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, confusion, blurred vision, or loss of consciousness.