CO Poisoning - we almost lost our daughter!

[rv_safetyman]

OK folks, we have talked about CO detectors many times on this board.  In addition I wrote an article for Bus Conversions Magazine (October 2010).

I have harped on this subject many times.  Most of you probably think I am over-the-top on the subject.

Well today, we found out that our daughter has very significant CO levels in her blood.  A bit more exposure could have killed her.

She and her family live in an old farmhouse.  She had mentioned that some sort of alarm had gone off a few weeks ago.  We rushed out an got her a new CO detector with a digital read out.

It turns out that she had been exposed to low levels of CO for many days during this last cold spell.   The levels were not enough to set off the alarm, but enough to kill her due to long exposure times.

Exposure to 30-60 PPM for several days can kill you!  That is below the level of the concentration that will set off the alarm.

I have taken the step to post the article here (sorry, article is about 4 meg in size, so could be a bit slow in loading):

http://rvsafetysystems.com/Detectors.htm

Mike, I hope that posting the article will not violate our agreement.  I hope you understand how important this subject is to me.

Jim

[Red Rider]

This is the kind of story that's important to all of us. That fact that it hits close to home only makes it seem more realistic. People in general don't take as much stock in these type situations unless they are directly involved.

I trust whatever cause this problem got fixed and all are well.

[MikeH]

Jim,

First off, I am so glad she is ok. The almost-loss of a child is very traumatic to a parent. BTDT.

Driving down the road in an enclosed can, it is conceivable that there could be a buildup of CO. Please everyone, take precautions to not let this happen in your bus (or house or boat or ??).

Mike

[rv_safetyman]

Thanks for the thoughts to both Mikes. 

MikeH, I hear some pretty bad horror stories at the trades shows.  Don't recall hearing one from driving but it sure could happen if you have an exhaust problem.  Most of the stories involve generator exhaust getting into the coach when parked.  Several involved coaches with slides over the generator exhaust.  Some occurred in the tight confines of a rally like we face at FMCA and you pick up your neighbor's exhaust.  Exhaust stacks should be mandatory.

In our buses we have a very small volume and it does not take much to compromise our health. 

Again, it is important to understand that even small concentrations of CO can be a problem if you are exposed long enough. 

We just had a potentially bad situation at a hockey game in a small arena from the Zamboni exhaust. 

We just need to take every precaution we can and recognize the symptoms.

In my daughters case, the furnace heat exchanger is bad.  They heat mostly with a wood stove, but the bad cold snap (-27 at their house) forced them to use the furnace.  They are working to get the furnace replaced.  The furnace person worked with them to identify the problem and pronounced the wood stove to be safe.  As soon as they fired up the furnace, the commercial sensor went crazy.

Jim

[John316]

Jim,

That is sobering. CO can be rough stuff. I was at continuing ed recently, and the class was about venting errors for gas appliances. That stuff is scary! It is SO easy to get CO into a house from an appliance. That heat exchanger can be a huge issue, on a lot of old furnaces. Some of the worst kind of exposure is the long term, small amounts of the stuff. Rough stuff.

As an interesting side note, the 2009 IRC, says that any contractor doing work in a house, that requires a permit, MUST install or make sure that the CO detectors are in order. If you don't, you are liable. Same goes for smoke detectors, but there are some other exemptions on that one. I won't get into the technicalities of the code, but that is only if your jurisdiction has adopted that code (most around here aren't on that yet).

Thanks again for the reminder.

God bless,

John

[robertglines1]

Jim you might have just stopped me from making mistake. The place I had planned locating gen set was close to a slide. I have another place in the engine bay to consider.Present 89 is in engine compartment and no problems.  Have co detectors in bus and home.  Bob