Call your emergency services (fire department or 911). Immediately move to fresh air - outdoors or by an open door or window. Do a head count to check that all persons are accounted for.
Carbon monoxide is an invisible and odorless gas that comes from any heater that burns fuel. Carbon monoxide buildup can cause illness and death by suffocation.
If you experience symptoms that you think could be from CO poisoning: DO GET FRESH AIR IMMEDIATELY. Open doors and windows, turn off combustion appliances and leave the house.
CO detectors are very sensitive and designed to alert occupants before CO reaches dangerous levels. If your detectors go off, call 911 and evacuate the home. Be sure to notify them if anyone in the house is experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Immediately evacuate the building to fresh air and safety. Call 9-1-1 once safely outside to report the incident and if there is anyone experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms like headaches, dizziness and vomiting. Do not return into the building until it has been cleared by first responders.
If you notice this, call 911. Have the fire department check for CO in your house. If CO is present, the source must be repaired before it is safe to return home.
In most areas, the fire department does not charge to respond to carbon monoxide alarms or to check for the presence of CO in a residence. However, policies can vary depending on the jurisdiction or specific fire department. It's always a good idea to contact your local fire department for specifics on their policies.
Call 911 when your CO detector goes off. Emergency responders are trained to identify and treat the symptoms of CO poisoning.
If no one is feeling symptoms, ventilate the home with fresh air and turn off all potential sources of CO. That includes your oil or gas furnace, gas water heater, gas range and oven, gas dryer, gas or kerosene space heater, and any vehicle or small engine.
The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are often described as “flu-like.” If you breathe in a lot of CO, it can make you pass out or kill you.
Its half-life is approximately four hours in the fresh air. The treatment for severe carbon monoxide inhalation is using oxygen or hyperbaric chambers to minimize the CO in your system, which you will need to do at a hospital.
The carbon monoxide in your body leaves through your lungs when you breathe out (exhale), but there is a delay in eliminating carbon monoxide. It takes about a full day for carbon monoxide to leave your body. 1.5 HOW CAN CARBON MONOXIDE AFFECT MY HEALTH?
This is called hyperbaric oxygen therapy. It involves breathing pure oxygen in a chamber for a set amount of time. The air pressure in the chamber is 2 to 3 times higher than usual. This helps replace carbon monoxide with oxygen in the blood.
The best way to alert you and your family to unsafe levels of CO is to install a carbon monoxide detector. It works like a smoke alarm, sampling the air in your home and creating a loud alarm when levels of the gas are detected. It's important to evacuate your home immediately when your CO alarm sounds.
15 minutes is enough to air the house properly
That's it. With this method, only the indoor air will be cooled. It will take just a few minutes to heat the room again. Leaving a tilt-and-turn window ajar all day, however, is not effective: it cools the walls and it costs much more to heat the room back up again.
Keep windows and doors open slightly. If you suspect that CO is escaping into your home, open a window or a door. Opening windows and doors can significantly decrease CO levels.
Call your emergency services (fire department or 911). Immediately move to fresh air - outdoors or by an open door or window. Do a head count to check that all persons are accounted for.
If you have a carbon monoxide detector chirping and then it stops, it's important to take the situation seriously, even if the alarm is no longer sounding. Even if the alarm has stopped, get everyone out of the home to a place with fresh air.
1 beep every minute: That alarm has low batteries and they should be replaced. 5 beeps every minute: Your alarm has reached the end of its life and needs to be replaced with a new carbon monoxide alarm.
False or nuisance alarms are when your smoke detector or CO alarm goes off, but there is no presence of smoke or carbon monoxide in your home. However, if your smoke or carbon monoxide detector sounds indicating an emergency and you are not certain it is a nuisance alarm, evacuate the home and call 9-1-1.
If the alarm sounds, vacate the house. Then, it's best to call 911 or the fire department to come out and test for the source of carbon monoxide. Once they've identified what is causing carbon monoxide to be released in your home, you'll need to contact a licensed professional to service the offending appliance.
Professional carbon monoxide testing can cost from $100 to $200+. But, most homeowners usually have carbon monoxide detectors which can range from $20 to $150+, according to Home Advisor, depending on the detector type.
Carbon monoxide, commonly known as CO, is an odorless, colorless, and non-irritating gas. No pet can identify the gas because CO lacks any scent whatsoever. Exposure can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning in both humans and pets.