Three people who used a charcoal grill indoors to keep warm were hospitalized with severe carbon monoxide poisoning last night as the county continued to recover from the Valentine's Day ice storm.
The carbon monoxide poisonings occurred at 309 Center St. in the Allen Apartments complex. Firefighters were called to the address at 7:37 p.m., said Lt. John Bowes, a city Fire Department spokesman.
Once inside, they found three victims with carbon monoxide levels of 160 parts per million, Lt. Bowes said. Anything above 35 parts per million is considered lethal. [And that is when most alarms FIRST sound...at the lethal range. Wouldn't it make sense to have an alarm go off at a lower level so you can get fresh air BEFORE it hits lethal range? Try the Pocket CO from www.transducertech.com.]
The victims had been using the grill all day, Lt. Bowes said. The most seriously injured victim was a 37-year-old female who was barely conscious. The other two - a 22-year-old male and a 48-year-old male - showed signs of poisoning.
The trio was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Firefighters offered to transport other Allen Apartment tenants to the emergency shelter, but no one wanted to go, Lt. Bowes said.
He reminded the public not to use anything to heat their homes that wasn't designed for heating, and generators should be kept away from the home so exhaust doesn't seep in. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment