Carbon Monoxide suspected in near drowning - Virgin Islands

[Shasta_man]

Having independently read about the "multiple people died in the same hotel room" story, and the heater story above (once would be too much), I am buying a CO monitor for home. Where should I look for one, DandyDon?

 

[DandyDon]

Having independently read about the "multiple people died in the same hotel room" story, and the heater story above (once would be too much), I am buying a CO monitor for home. Where should I look for one, DandyDon?

OMG, yes - every home needs at least one if not one per bedroom. You can get them anywhere small appliances are sold. I certainly prefer an AC/DC model, and do study the easy directions so you will know what the differences between low battery, end of life (most are good for 5-7 years I think, dated on the back, but better models give an alert), and real alarms - when you gather everyone to escape and call 911 from your cell phone.

My home uses gas heating and water heating, and I like digital screens, so I got this one for $38 last time I added: First Alert GC01CN Detector - Walmart.com

There are good models for less than $20, but I kinda like to keep my CO alarm and smoke alarm separate - different units altho those combinations may be fine. There are dozens of choices. If your goes off as soon as you install it, which happens - consider yourself extremely lucky.

 

[swamp diver]

Don you forgot this double hotel CO fatality in Bolivia.

2 Quebec students found dead in Bolivian hostel - World - CBC News

And don't forget the 150 fatalities from CO while in and around boats. I carry a CO detector while on boats as well. Highest I've found is over 600 ppm on the back of a dive boat, but 50 ppm to 100 ppm is quite common near the transom with inboard engines. Stay out of the exhaust on the way to the dive site.
http://www.doubleangel.org/documents/2009ITLS.ppt

 

[DandyDon]

Don you forgot this double hotel CO fatality in Bolivia.

2 Quebec students found dead in Bolivian hostel - World - CBC News

And don't forget the 150 fatalities from CO while in and around boats. I carry a CO detector while on boats as well. Highest I've found is over 600 ppm on the back of a dive boat, but 50 ppm to 100 ppm is quite common near the transom with inboard engines. Stay out of the exhaust on the way to the dive site.
http://www.doubleangel.org/documents/2009ITLS.ppt

I wouldn't stay in a Las Vegas hotel without my own CO alarms, and I can't imagine traveling to South America without one - even tho most do go without, I know.

Some states are requiring them in hotels and schools, if you can trust enforcement and efficiency, but not many. Texas may not have any laws at all about CO, and it's so much more common than we generally think - odorless, invisible, etc. Our state park department lost a worker last week in San Marcos while I happen to be there shooting pics of their courthouse, a funny hobby of mine: Carbon monoxide poisoning blamed in worker?s death | KXAN.com

A lawnmower in a car garage can kill, and I'm getting where I don't trust hardly anyone's judgements these days. I want to die on a fun adventure when I go, not dizzy & nauseous before I pass out and croak. I need to find a small one I can wear, but more dependable than the little one I tried before.

 

[Bob DBF]

Separate smoke and CO detectors, smoke rises and CO hangs on the floor so for best detection...

I only use one CO detector in the hall by the furnace / hot water heater closet. The smoke detectors were installed when the house was built, but I added one in the garage. I don't allow anything to burn or run in the garage as it is too easy for fumes to get into the house.

A lawnmower in a car garage can kill, and I'm getting where I don't trust hardly anyone's judgements these days.

A good plan as there are more knuckleheads being produced today than ever before.

Your barbecue could kill you this winter | KING5.com Seattle
Sickness and death caused by carbon monoxide poisoning became epidemic in December of 2006, when severe wind storms knocked out power, for weeks in some places.
The problem was especially acute in immigrant communities after barbecues and hibachi grills were pulled indoors for warmth. Because of cultural differences and language barriers, these communities aren't always aware of the risks or don't understand the warnings.
That winter, scores of poisonings and a rash of deaths prompted the Seattle Times to publish those warnings in multiple languages on the front page of the newspaper.
But barbecues dragged indoors aren't the only problem.
"You see generators running in garages when there's any outages," said Puget Sound Energy lineman Howard Clifton. He works in Whatcom County and says generators also present hazards.
In that same terrible 2006 storm, four membes of the Tran family died in their Burien home because of the carbon monoxide from a generator running in the garage

Bob
----------------------------------
... you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
Harry Calahan

 

[DandyDon]

Separate smoke and CO detectors, smoke rises and CO hangs on the floor so for best detection...

I understood that CO, being "slightly less dense than air" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide) mixes well in room air, so I just plug those monitors in wherever there is a convenient wall electrical outlet. I like to keep my CO and Smoke alarms separate more so in case one fails, I still have the other working - but battery changing twice a year at my house is a major event. I used to use time change dates but those have been moved so much that they're no longer 6 months apart, so now I use Halloween and May Day.

I only use one CO detector in the hall by the furnace / hot water heater closet. The smoke detectors were installed when the house was built, but I added one in the garage. I don't allow anything to burn or run in the garage as it is too easy for fumes to get into the house.

I don't know how many bedrooms you have but I like one in each, even in an all electric home. My daughter's home is all electric but they have a fireplace, and those produced 5,000 ppm CO! Mistakes are made in garages, especially with teenagers in the family. It does bother me that my car exhaust is only 3 feet from my kitchen door as I back in so I can better watch for children pulling out, but I never let the car sit running inside - start & leave!

A good plan as there are more knuckleheads being produced today than ever before.

It's such an under appreciated risk with so little oversight, especially in Texas, I really wonder how much is around daily life but unreported. Reports on accidental US deaths vary greatly, again suggesting to me that it's often overlooked or under reported?

I am inclined to go for the Sensorcon. I'm really thinking about one I can wear everyday, everywhere, and this one seems more dependable overall, cheaper to have calibrated, and wouldn't look too odd on my belt as I visit stores, etc. I already look dorky enough wearing 2 black pouches (one for my cell, one for my camera) everywhere, so a third black piece would just be more of the same. I am not looking for a replacement for my Analox scuba tester, but it's still an option to appreciate.

Edit removed. Still exploring the facts, but the Sensorcon seems to ok after all.

 

[Shasta_man]

Thanks for the tip, Don.

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks for the tip, Don.

You're very welcome. My home dive bud has had his CO monitors go off at home from a smoldering fireplace while he was napping, as well as his shop from an ancient heater. He was damned lucky he didn't wake up sick or dead on the first one, and working every day with toxic CO levels can have a severely damaging effect.

I have no idea what all I have survived in the old farm house and more before CO alarms became affordable. I remember some frigid nights when I ran both space heaters all night even tho they showed signs of operating inefficiently , adding an old & inefficient kitchen gas stove mornings, and one frigid fall during cotton harvest I ran a couple of gasoline lanterns in the cab of a module builder nights while I worked. I knew the latter was risky but if I passed out, the others on the crew would have to stop and investigate why my machine stopped. And then there's the first day of a group trip to Belize when all of the air breathers got sick but the nitrox divers were fine. That operator went on to prove himself pathetic in other ways, so my suspicions seem well founded.

It's such an under appreciated risk with so little oversight, especially in Texas, I really wonder how much is around daily life but unreported. Reports on accidental US deaths vary greatly, again suggesting to me that it's often overlooked or under reported?

I am inclined to go for the Sensorcon. I'm really thinking about one I can wear everyday, everywhere, and this one seems more dependable overall, cheaper to have calibrated, and wouldn't look too odd on my belt as I visit stores, etc. I already look dorky enough wearing 2 black pouches (one for my cell, one for my camera) everywhere, so a third black piece would just be more of the same. I am not looking for a replacement for my Analox scuba tester, but it's still an option to appreciate.

Edit removed. Still exploring the facts, but the Sensorcon seems to ok after all.

I had thought I'd stumbled across some information about the unit giving false readings in warm surroundings, but I had misread. I think it does have some exposure issues to hydrogen (farts), windshield fluids, etc. but I'll start my own testing in a week. Got mine ordered today.

 

[Mr. Black]

I had thought I'd stumbled across some information about the unit giving false readings in warm surroundings, but I had misread. I think it does have some exposure issues to hydrogen (farts), windshield fluids, etc. but I'll start my own testing in a week. Got mine ordered today.

LOL. I visualize you eating a bad-ass burrito and sitting in front of the Sensorcon waiting to test its sensitivity to hydrogen

Having seen the Walmart link I have decided to pick one or two plug-in CO monitors and take them back home with me. I am in Austin, TX this week shopping

Just gotta make sure the model I buy can handle 230V

 

[DandyDon]

LOL. I visualize you eating a bad-ass burrito and sitting in front of the Sensorcon waiting to test its sensitivity to hydrogen

Having seen the Walmart link I have decided to pick one or two plug-in CO monitors and take them back home with me. I am in Austin, TX this week shopping

Just gotta make sure the model I buy can handle 230V

I was visiting a friend near there a couple of weeks ago and my gas pill wore off while we were in town. :blush: Went to take another when we got back to her place near Giddings, but my hypochondriac bag had been left in my car and the capsules melted. I stuck the card in water for a few minutes.

You may have to get adapters. You can use battery powered only CO units, but they don't warn about flammable gases.