One of the easiest things you can to do help prevent CO poisoning in your
home is to maintain a fresh airflow through the house, either through open
windows or a special system that keeps refreshing the air. There are too many
cases of people attempting to keep warm by using their fireplaces or space
heaters but failing to check to see that there is some sort of ventilation
helping the carbon monoxide to escape. Even a dirty chimney can make the
difference between a safe room and one slowly filling with poison!
If your alarms do go off, the first thing to do is stay calm and check on all
the members of your family. Ask if anyone is feeling ill and look for any of the
common symptoms of CO poisoning. If anyone is feeling ill, evacuate the home
immediately and call 911 from a neighbor's home or a local pay phone. Do not
stay in the house! Every minute you stay in the house adds to the amount of
carbon monoxide in your lungs; don't become a victim!
If you feel that it was a false alarm and everyone is feeling well, go around
the house and turn off any source of carbon monoxide before resetting the alarm.
If the alarm goes off again, contact a professional to come and check the alarm
for problems. But if at any time you or someone in your family begins to feel
ill, evacuate the home and call for help!
Carbon monoxide kills hundreds of people every year because they can't see it
coming. A colorless, odorless gas, it invades your lungs and will make you sick
without your noticing it. But with a little research and preparation, you can
make sure that your home and family remain safe from this silent killer.