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CO Poisoning(continued...)
Safety tips • The safety experts at ULC recommend that consumers follow these steps to help prevent carbon monoxide poisoning: • Have a qualified technician inspect fuel-burning appliances at least once each year. Fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, hot water heaters and stoves require yearly maintenance. Over time, components can become damaged or deteriorate. A qualified technician can identify and repair problems with your fuel-burning appliances. • Be alert to the danger signs that signal a CO problem: streaks of carbon or soot around the service door of your fuel-burning appliances; the absence of a draft in your chimney; excessive rusting on flue pipes or appliance jackets; moisture collecting on the windows and walls of furnace rooms; fallen soot from the fireplace; small amounts of water leaking from the base of the chimney, vent or flue pipe; damaged or discolored bricks at the top of your chimney and rust on the portion of the vent pipe visible from outside your home. • Be aware that CO poisoning may be the cause of flu-like symptoms such as headaches, tightness of chest, dizziness, fatigue, confusion and breathing difficulties. Because CO poisoning often causes a victim's blood pressure to rise, the victim's skin may take on a pink or red cast. Install a ULC certified CO alarm outside sleeping areas. A ULC certified CO alarm is designed to sound an alarm before dangerous levels of CO accumulate. CO indicator cards and other devices are also intended to detect elevated levels of CO, but most are not equipped with an audible alarm, and cannot wake you at night, when most CO poisonings occur. • Read the manufacturer's instructions carefully before installing a CO alarm. Do not place the alarm within five feet of household chemicals. If your alarm is wired directly into your home's electrical system, you should test it monthly. If your unit operates off of a battery, test the alarm weekly and replace the battery at least once a year. • Avoid placing your alarm directly on top of or directly across from fuel-burning appliances. These appliances will emit some CO when initially turned-on. Never use charcoal grills inside a home, tent, camper or unventilated garage. Don't leave vehicles running in an enclosed garage, even to "warm up" your car on a cold morning. • Know how to respond to a CO alarm. If your alarm sounds, immediately operate the reset/silence button and call your emergency services (fire department or 911). Move to fresh air by going outside or moving to an open door or window. Check to make sure that everyone in your household is accounted for. Do not re-enter the premises nor move away from the open door or window until the emergency services have arrived, the premises have been sufficiently aired out, and your CO alarm remains in its normal condition. If your CO alarm reactivates within a 24-hour period, operate the reset button, call your emergency services and move to fresh air. Call a qualified technician to examine and/or turn off your fuel-burning appliances or other sources of combustion. Although your problem may appear to be temporarily solved, it's crucial that the source of CO is determined and appropriate repairs are made. Smoke alarms. Over 92 percent of dwellings have at least one smoke alarm, making them the most recognizable fire safety feature in residences. Unfortunately, they are the most under-regarded safety feature. About one third of them no longer work because people forget to test them, replace dead batteries or replace old smoke alarms. In new homes, smoke alarms should be powered by the home's electrical system and have backup batteries. They should also be interconnected so that if one unit detects smoke, all of the units will sound. New owners and tenants need to confirm this feature so they know what to expect if a fire occurs. New dwellings should have the following number of smoke alarms. First, there should be one alarm located outside each bedroom area, close enough to be heard through closed bedroom doors. There should also be one in each bedroom. In addition, there should be at least one on every level. Thus, a 3-bedroom home with a basement should have a minimum of five smoke alarms. In homes where the bedrooms are not located together, additional smoke alarms will be needed outside the other bedrooms. It is advisable to have more than one on each level if there are several rooms. Remember, smoke alarms cannot work until the smoke reaches them, so every additional smoke alarms cuts the potential response time in a fire. Maintaining smoke alarms. Keeping smoke alarms operating is easy. The big problem is dust that can accumulate inside the unit. Remember, air is flowing through them, and air carries dust particles. Once a year, hold a vacuum cleaner up against them to suck out any dust that may have accumulated inside the unit. If the units are battery operated, replace the batteries every year unless you have installed long-life batteries. And never install a 10-year battery in an older smoke alarm. It may leave you with an inoperable smoke alarm. Replacing smoke alarms. Like any appliance, smoke alarms wear out after time. Ten years is the recommended replacement time. After operating 24 hours a day for ten years, even well-maintained smoke alarms have a 30 percent chance that they will fail to operate in a fire. |
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