- The silent killer sends over 50,000 American’s to the emergency room every year.
- Many people die from it during and after a hurricane or tropical storm event.
- It is odorless, tasteless, and colorless.
- This killer is created when a generator, vehicle, cooker, or other appliance burns wood, oil, gas, propane, kerosene, or coal – in an enclosed space like a house, apartment, or garage.
- Early symptoms of it are often mistaken for those of the flu and include headache, nausea, sleepiness, dizziness, and confusion.
This killer is the toxic gas called carbon monoxide or CO. After a storm knocks out the utility power lines, sometimes whole families are wiped out when well meaning people run a generator or similar engine inside a garage or living space. It is tragic but preventable.
Always take great care to make sure that stoves, generators,and the like are operated outside. Keep them at least 25 feet from open doors and windows too.
TIP – If you don’t have one in your house, you should probably purchase a combination smoke and CO detector. They come in battery powered versions and hardwired versions. They hang on the wall just like a regular smoke alarm, but also alert you if CO is detected.
These particular Kidde detectors also have voice alerts, which gives a much better alarm for everyone, especially children. The picture for this post is one of two such units I have in our home.
