Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Why Is There No National Law Requiring Hotels To Install Carbon Monoxide Detectors?

Gordon Johnson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:27:32 +0000

A guest at a West Virginia hotel died of carbon monoxide poisoning this week, and his demise has prompted the local mayor to try to take action. He wants to require that all lodgings in his city install carbon monoxide detectors. But this tragedy is not only a lesson for him, but for states across the nation.

Tuesday construction worker William Moran, a 44-year-old Rhode Island resident, was found dead in a fifth floor room of the Holiday Inn Express in South Charleston, W. Va., according to the Associated Press. Four other men were also discovered in that room, suffering from symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/west-virginia-hotel-evacuated-after-1-guest-dies-4-others-sick-carbon-monoxide-detected/2012/01/31/gIQAgMtefQ_story.html

The hotel was evacuated, and authorities found high levels of the deadly gas. They believe the carbon monoxide came from a pool heater.

South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens was shocked by the death, and wants an ordinance drafted to mandate that hotels to install life-saving carbon monoxide detectors, according to the Daily Mail. That paper then went on to do a stellar job of explaining the ridiculousness of hotels being required to have smoke alarms, but not carbon monoxide detectors.

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/watchdog/2012/02/01/why-doesnt-w-va-require-co-alarms-in-hotels/

Some 25 states have laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors in residential businesses, including West Virginia. But only a handful of states — apparently New Jersey, Michigan, Vermont, Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Minnesota – require the monitors in hotels, according to the Daily Mail.

But the newspaper cites data from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that says a survey of 100 hotel-chain properties found that only 11 percent of them had installed carbon monoxide detectors.

The Daily Mail also referred to statistics from 1989 to 2004, which said there were 68 incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning at hotels, with 772 sickened. Of those, 27 people died.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association recommends that its members install carbon monoxide detectors in their hotels, according to the Daily Mail.

But what is it going to take, how many senseless deaths, to get national legislation ordering hotels to have carbon monoxide detectors?

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
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Carbon Monoxide Leak In Baltimore Apartment Sends Seven To Hospital

Gordon Johnson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:34:22 +0000

A carbon monoxide leak in a Baltimore apartment resulted in seven people being sent to the hospital Sunday, according to The Baltimore Sun.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-carbon-monoxide-20120129,0,6184580.story

The Baltimore Fire Department was called to the scene, an apartment on Edgewood Road, when someone reported an odor in the building. Residents said they had headaches, and authorities determined that the carbon monoxide level was 60 parts per million, The Baltimore Sun reported. That’s a high enough level to cause symptoms to those exposed to it.

Four residents were sent to the University of Maryland and three to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment. Their exposure wasn’t life-threatening, according to the local newspaper.

Fire officials hadn’t found the cause of the carbon monoxide leak.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sends 13 To The Hospital In Wisconsin

Gordon Johnson — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:12:00 +0000

A leak from a forklift Thursday led to 13 employees at Chippewa Bi Products in Wisconsin being sent to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, according to WQOW-TV. The incident took place at the rendering facility near Alma Center.

http://www.wqow.com/story/16609083/10-employees-hospitalized-following-possible-co-poisoning

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release that said it got a call asking that EMTs be dispatched to Chippewa Bi Products at 9:50 a.m. Thursday. The person who called said that at least one person had passed out, and no one knew why.

Alma Center firefighters, and EMTs from Alma Center and Black River Falls, came to the scene. They determined that several employees have been overcome by carbon monoxide.

The sheriff’s office said that 10 people had to be taken to Black River Memorial Hospital, but WQOW reported that 13 were transported there. According to the TV station, four victims were later transported to other hospitals for treatment, and nine were treated and released.

Propane forklifts were being used in the Chippewa Bi Products building where the employees got ill, and authorities believe one of the forklifts had a mechanical problem and released the toxic carbon monoxide fumes.

In turn, Chippewa Bi Products said that it has carbon monoxide detectors, and that one did go off Thursday.

The plant did reopen after the incident Thursday, with the company saying it had retified the problem with the forklift.

Boston Mother And Three Children Hospitalized For Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Gordon Johnson — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:38:05 +0000

A Boston mother and her three sons, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, were hospitalized Monday morning, according to The Boston Globe.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/01/23/four-hyde-park-residents-taken-hospital-suffering-from-carbon-monoxide-exposure/ECAeoiyfWFieW7n6g7CBnM/story.html

The four victims, who live in the Hyde Park section, had to be transported from their home at Warren Avenue to Massachusetts General Hospital at roughly 8 a.m., The Globe reported.

Two of the victims of the potentially lethal gas were in serious condition, and the other two were stable.

Firefighters came to the scene in response to a report about an unconscious person, TheBostonChannel.com reported. The unconscious victim was a boy. He, two other boys and their mother were all taken to the hospital.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/30276647/detail.html

What’s perplexing about the incident is that the owner of the home, Jen Louisia, told TheBostonChannel.com that he had called 911 the day before after a carbon monoxide detector sounding off. Firefighters came to investigate, but they told Louisia not to worry about the alarm going off, that he just needed to change the battery.

Fire officials now suspect that a faulty boiler was the likely source of the carbon monoxide leak, but they don’t know why investigators hadn’t found high carbon monoxide levels in the house on Saturday.

Carbon Monoxide Sickens 42 Midshipmen At Long Island Merchant Marine Academy

Gordon Johnson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:07:22 +0000

In one of the largest cases of carbon monoxide poisoning that we recall, 42 students at the Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island, N.Y., this weekend were hospitalized following a leak of the lethal gas, according to The Los Angeles Times.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/01/carbon-monoxide-leak-sickens-42-midshipmen-on-long-island.html

A spokewoman for North Shore University Hospital told The Times that eight of the students, called midshipmen, were treated at her facility after being brought there at 11 p.m. Sunday. They were released about four hours later. The rest of the students, who are being trained to be officers in the merchant marine, were taken to other medical facilities for treatment.

Authorities suspect that a faulty water heater was responsible for the carbon monoxide leak, The Times reported.

Recently there was a recall of Navien water heaters, because of a faulty hose connection that could lead to a carbon monoxide leak. But there was no mention of what type of water heater the academy had.

The academy is located in Kings Point, some 20 miles from New York City.

The Times quoted several statistics about carbon monoxide poisoning from the Centers for Disease Control in its story. Carbon monoxide accounts for more than 20,000 emergency visits each year. In additon, 4,000 are hospitalized and 400 die from exposure to the colorless, odorless gas.

Green Bay Hotel Had Lethal Carbon Monoxide Levels In Leak That Sent 16 To The Hospital

Gordon Johnson — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:34:41 +0000

The Hilton Garden Inn in Green Bay is apparently still keeping mum about a carbon monoxide leak a week ago that lead to about 16 people going to the hospital. At least, that what the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported Friday.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012201060552

The newspaper did a follow-up story that published information from the Green Bay Fire Department’s report on the carbon monoxide incident at 1015 Lombardi Ave. Apparently, there was no mention in the report of whether the hotel had carbon monoxide detectors, as required by Wisconsin state law.

According to the records, EMTs got to the Hilton Garden Inn at 9 p.m. on Dec. 30. They found four people, including several children, who had the classic symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: headaches, nausea and vomiting.

Then more hotel guests came forward and complained of having similar symptoms, the Press-Gazette reported. Firefighters said that two sick people were transported to a hospital by ambulance, a 17-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman. In addition, roughly 14 others went to the hospital in private vehicles.

The fire report on the incident said that high levels of carbon monoxide were found in a swimmng pool area, a workout room, a mechanical room, a stairway and several restrooms, according to the Press-Gazette.

The newspaper stated that fire officials found carbon monoxide levels up to 800 parts per million near the pool and 957 parts per million in an equipment room. Those readings soar above the carbon monoxide level that sometimes prompts the evacuation of buildings: 9 parts per million.

Firefighters pulled the plug on any potential sources of carbon monoxide, ventilated the hotel and had hotel employees check on other occupants at the 123-room facility. The fire crew left the scene about 11:30 p.m.

If the Green Bay Fire Department report said anything about carbon monoxide detectors, then the Press-Gazette didn’t mention it. And we doubt that.

Hilton Garden Inn general manager Michelle Lang declined to comment to the Press-Gazette. Maybe that answers the question about the carbon monoxide detectors.

New Hampshire Target Store Evacuated For High Carbon Monoxide Levels, 17 Employees Treated

Gordon Johnson — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:04:55 +0000

A Target store in Keene, N.H., had to be evacuated Tuesday due to high levels of carbon monoxide, and 17 employees were taken to local hospitals, according to the Keene Sentinel.

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/carbon-monoxide-detected-at-keene-department-store/article_b3ecb24d-fd45-5d78-9cea-fb74f1762fdf.html

Fire officials came to the Target after getting a call from an employee, who was complaining of smelling an odd odor, at about 12:40 p.m. Firefighters measured a high level of carbon monoxide at the store, and evacuated the building. Some 44 Target employees were tested for carbon monoxide poisoning at the scene, the Keene Sentinel reported.

It turned out that 11 of those employees were sent to Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and four of them had high enough levels of the potentially fatal gas to be diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the local newspaper.

Six other employees who had left the Target on Ash Brook Road before firefighters arrived went to hospitals on their own to get treatment.

The source of the carbon monoxide was a gas-powered cutting machine that was in the Target in the morning cutting out pieces of its concrete floor as part of a renovation, according to the Keene Sentinel. Fire authorities believe that the store wasn’t properly ventilated when that work was done, or when workers took out the concrete slabs with a tractor.

Four Hospitalized For Suspected Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Green Bay Hotel

Gordon Johnson — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:12:43 +0000

In the second unfortunate case of this type I’ve seen recently, four guests — including two children – at the Hilton Garden Inn in Green Bay were hospitalized for apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Friday, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20111231/GPG0101/111231024/4-taken-hospital-after-suspected-carbon-monoxide-leak-Lambeau-area-hotel

The incident happened at the hotel near Lambeau Field at 1015 Lombardi Ave. And this isn’t the first near-tragedy of its kind in Green Bay: I am currently handling a lawsuit that involves carbon monoxide poisoning of patrons at a Days Inn located in that city.

In the case at the Hilton Garden Inn, the two children who became sick were in the vicinity of the hotel’s swimming pool, according to the Press Gazette. Those poor kids were taken to the hospital by ambulance, while the two adults who became ill from their exposure to carbon monoxide were transported by private cars.

Green Bay fire officials are blaming a heating system malfunction for the carbon monoxide leak. There were high levels of carbon monoxide not only in the room where the heating system was located, but in the pool area, as well.

Officials at the Hilton Garden Inn couldn’t be reached for comment by the Press Gazette. And maybe there’s a reason for that. The reporter would have asked them the same question that authorities, and I, would have asked: Does your hotel have carbon monoxide detectors? And if it does, why weren’t there any near the pool?

There are 25 states that require installation of carbon monoxide detectors in various kinds of residential and public buildings, including Wisconsin. And Wisconsin requires them in hotels.

Here is what the Wisconsin law mandates:

“Requires installation of carbon monoxide detectors in certain areas of residential buildings (defined as a tourist rooming hosue, a bed and breakfast, or any public building that is used for sleeping or lodging purposes). Sets forth installation requirements, obligations and liabilities for owners of such residential buildings.”

http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=13238

If the Hilton Garden Inn had carbon monoxide detectors, why did four people get sick Friday night? And if the hotel had them, why were there none by the pool? Or did it have them, but they weren’t functioning properly?

And if the hotel didn’t have them, it would appear to be in violation of state law.

Either way, something went terribly wrong.

Will Consumers Find Out About The Navien Heater Recall, Due To Carbon Monoxide Risk?

Gordon Johnson — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:33:16 +0000

Earlier this week the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the voluntary recall of 13,000 tankless waters heaters. These heaters pose a threat of leaking carbon monoxide, a lethal colorless, odorless gas.

But we have to wonder, how many people are aware of this recall? And how many people could be victims of carbon monoxide poisoning from these Korean-made heaters, which were distributed by Navien America Inc. of Irvine, Calif.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12074.html

The Navien water heaters pose a hazard because “an unstable connection can cause the water heater’s vent collar to separate or detach if pressure is applied,” according to the CPCS’s press release. ”A detached vent collar poses a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning to the consumer,” the CPCS said.

Although there have been no reports in injuries yet, these heaters pose a serious danger.

Today we Googled ”Navien heater recall” to see how much press coverage the recall got. Although almost 200 stories came up in that search. That may sound like a lot, but most of them buried the heater recall as part of roundups of many other product recalls.

It’s too bad the CPCS doesn’t have a more comprehensive method of distributing news about its recalls, especially one involving such a potentially dangerous product, the Navien heaters.

Let’s hope word does spread and these 13,000 heaters are found and returned.

Water Heaters Recalled Because They Pose Carbon Monoxide Risk

Gordon Johnson — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:51:50 +0000

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) this week announced the recall of an estimated 13,000 water heaters that have a defect that could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12074.html

The voluntary recall is being done in conjunction with the company that imported the “instantaneous” or tankless water heaters, Navien America Inc. of Irvine, Calif. They were manufactured by Kyung Dong Navien Co. of South Korea.

“A detached vent collar poses a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning to the consumer,” the CPCS said.

So far, no one has been injured in an incident involving the recalled water heaters.

The recalled Navien tankless hot water heaters are white with “T-Creator” and “NAVIEN” on the front. The recalled model numbers are CR-180(A), CR-210(A), CR-240(A), CC-180(A), CC-210(A) and CC-240(A) manufactured in 2008.

A label on the side of the water heater lists the model number along with the manufacturing year in YYYY format.

The suspect heaters were sold by wholesale distributors to in-home installers nationwide from February 2008 through March 2009, for between $1,500 and $2,100.

The CPSC warned consumers to immediately stop using and check the model and manufacture year information on their Navien water heater.

Consumers with recalled water heaters should immediately contact Navien to schedule a free repair. Navien will replace all Nylon 66 vent collar with PVC collars. Consumers who continue use of the water heaters while awaiting repair, should have a working carbon monoxide alarm installed outside of sleeping areas in the home.

The CPSC advised people seeking additional information to contact Navien at (800) 244-8202 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or to visit the company’s website at www.navienamerica.com

http://www.navienamerica.com/

On its own website, Navien said, “In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Navien America Inc. (“Navien”) has, on its own decision, proactively initiated a recall to replace the Nylon 66 exhaust vent collars with PVC collars on certain tankless water heaters.

The vent collars of the products manufactured by Navien in 2008 were not properly connected to the vent pipes in some cases. In the event pressure is applied, then the vent could separate and break away from the collar. If the vent separates from the vent collar, then this could lead to the risk of carbon monoxide leaks and poisoning if the water heater is located inside the house.”

http://www.navienamerica.com/event/notice_view.aspx?idx=12&skin=notice&kind=view

Regardless of the type of water heater that is used, every home should have a CO alarm outside all sleeping areas and consumers should ensure that their CO alarms have working batteries, according to the CPSC.