SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Carbon Monoxide is known as the silent killer. Coast TV spoke with Milton Fire EMS and an ER doctor to learn more about the effects of CO poisoning.
Carbon Monoxide or CO, is commonly known as the "silent killer". It's colorless, odorless, and tasteless.
Chet Reynolds, a lieutenant with Milton EMS, said this is the time of year that CO poisoning occurrences increase. "This is the time of year, with trying to heat the home, or during a natural disaster of some sort. Portable generators, home generators, need to make sure they're run outside, and not run in your garage, or run in your home. Those that run off of gasoline could be dangerous due to the exhaust."
Reynolds said it's state protocol that every EMS provider have a CO detector on every emergency call. "That gives us an extra level of security if we do go into a residence. It beeps and alerts us that there is a presence of possible CO, and we know to evacuate, and gives us a clue that maybe potentially this patient could be CO related."
He said most fatalities due to carbon monoxide happen when the person has gone to sleep.
Doctor Nick Perchiniak, an ER doctor in Lewes, said he sees patients with symptoms this time of year. "Patients will often come in with flu-like symptoms. The most common related to carbon monoxide would be headache, dizziness, weakness, and sometimes nausea and vomiting as well."
Perchiniak said more than 100,000 cases of CO poisonings that occur annually are evaluated in emergency departments.
Trina Brown-Hicks, a Lewes Councilwoman, had a close call with CO poisoning this month. Brown-Hicks told us that she was using a new oven to bake a food dish, 30 minutes later, she heard her detectors going off, encouraging evacuation. Readings revealed that the oven was in fact the source of the CO leak throughout her house.
The CO detector that alerted Brown-Hicks of the leak in her house.
Brown-Hicks encourages everyone to get a CO detector if they do not already have one. For those who already do have, she encourages them to check the expiration date. "I've been telling everybody, ever since this incident to please make sure you have carbon monoxide detectors. I learned that they expire. Once they've been used, you really need to buy another one, because it may be saturated and it may not, operate, as it should the next time."
Brown-Hicks also told us that a CO detector makes a perfect gift for a loved one this upcoming holiday.
If you feel like you're having symptoms of CO poisoning, seek fresh air as soon as possible. If symptoms persist call 911 or go to an emergency room.
