Carbon Monoxide Exposure | Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

The Roots of Hope

Posted on 10th March 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

air pollution, air quality, carbon monoxide, carbon monoxide exposure, economic stimulus, economy and environment, emissions, greenhouse effect, jobs, trees, Uncategorized, WPA

Yesterday, as I browsed the internet for headlines, I tuned into CNN for some background noise and by the end of the day my mood was as dark as the news. I have made it a habit to not tune into news channels for that very reason. Don’t take me wrong. My job entails absorbing a huge quantity of news. But for me, personally, the sort of news I thrive on is more along the lines of environmental issues.

It occurred to me, after cringing through stories of a troubled economy, that perhaps a lifetime of environmentalism and other lost or unpopular causes has given me a different perspective on the state of the world. I can sum up that difference in two words: unshakeable optimism.

I see a world which has become more self-aware and activists of all types joining together to create big changes. Taken individually, these actions can seem insignificant. Viewed as a whole, however, they become a force to be reckoned with.

That is why a little story from News Channel 19 in Chattanooga, Tennessee caught my eye. In a vow to reduce carbon monoxide by 7% from 1990 levels, volunteers are planting trees. Since last year they have planted a variety of trees in downtown neighborhoods, 620 of them in fact. The trees will not only absorb carbon monoxide, they will reduce the need for air conditioning by providing shade for the heat-absorbing concrete.

So back to the headlines. Stimulus spending, joblessness and energy problems. What better way to tackle all three head on than by planting trees? How many miles of highway do we have in this country just waiting for armies of workers to plant air-cleaning trees? Barren city streets scorching in the summer sun? Farmers’ fields blowing away from the lack of wind barriers? Vacant city lots devoid of life? Perhaps the greening of America should be more than a concept, maybe it should be a reality.

I admit, I am very partial to trees. I spend a lot of time out walking under them. They are a reminder of the solidity and continuity of life, the enormous potential for growth, and hope. Perhaps America needs a little of that right now.

Many of the trees I walk thru, many of the trees in the county in which I live, were planted there as part of the WPA work program during the depression. According to the old timers our beautiful rural landscape once looked like central Illinois, flat and treeless. Now it is a haven for much of Wisconsin, because of all of the beautiful trees.

thelegaltimes.net staff writer

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

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Carbon Monoxide and Pets

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Posted on 30th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

carbon monoxide and pets, carbon monoxide attorney, carbon monoxide dangers, carbon monoxide deaths, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide fatality, Uncategorized

It is very sobering to realize how many people are affected by carbon monoxide every year. These incidents always go up during natural disasters or power outages, like the one affecting so many right now.

As much as we hear about carbon monoxide in the news, we rarely hear how many pets die. Smaller and more vulnerable, they are more likely to be overcome by these invisible fumes. Nebraska leads the country in carbon monoxide deaths and I was saddened to read that firefighters in Omaha reported that 9 dogs had died just last week from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Pets are particularly vulnerable during cold weather when they may be confined to a garage and exposed to car fumes. Dogs and cats are much more sensitive to carbon monoxide fumes than humans and any exposure to exhaust fumes is serious and sometimes fatal. Carbon monoxide poisoning, even in very low doses, is cumulative and can lead to death.

The warning signs of carbon monoxide in your pets include: drowsiness, lethargy, weakness and/or incoordination, bright red color to skin and gums, dyspnea (trouble breathing), coma, abrupt death and occasionally chronic (low-grade, long-term) exposure may cause exercise intolerance, changes in gait (walking), and disturbances of normal reflexes. If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning in your pet, remember, this is a warning sign that you and your family are at risk. Pets and small children are always the first affected.

If you care about your pets, install carbon monoxide detectors. They are an inexpensive way to protect you, your family and your pets. Don’t let your pet be the warning sign that you have carbon monoxide in your home.

- the legal times staff

www.codamage.com

Wash. woman dies; carbon monoxide found

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Posted on 6th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

boilers and carbon monoxide, carbon monoxide attorney, carbon monoxide deaths, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide fatality, carbon monoxide lawyer, defective boilers, Uncategorized

January 6, 2009

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER — Investigators say a boiler vent damaged during a recent windstorm may have led to the high levels of carbon monoxide that left one college student dead.

Denver’s Chief Deputy Coroner Michelle Weiss-Samaras says 23-year-old Lauren Johnson died Monday after being taken from a third-floor unit at Josephine Place Apartments. Johnson and another woman were hospitalized.

University of Denver spokesman Jim Berscheidt says Johnson was a first-year graduate student at the school’s international-studies program. He says she was from Vancouver, Wash.

Authorities say a woman had called 911 shortly before 5 p.m. Monday saying she felt woozy.

Denver fire spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne says investigators found that carbon monoxide had leaked from a flue from the boiler. Champagne says whoever fixed the old flue vent cap did not attach it properly.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

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65 children sickened by carbon monoxide in China

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Posted on 26th December 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

carbon monoxide attorney, carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide deaths, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide lawyer, Chinese carbon monoxide poisoning, Uncategorized

Date: 12/25/2008 7:29 AM

BEIJING (AP) — Sixty-five elementary school students in northern China were poisoned by carbon monoxide after smoke from a dormitory boiler seeped into their rooms, state media reported Thursday.

Nineteen were still being treated in hospitals in Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Meng Lei, a regional health official, told Xinhua that none were in serious condition.

Calls to provincial and city authorities, including the health and education departments, were not answered Thursday.

The students at Niuchang Primary School in Hohhot, the regional capital, reported feeling dizzy after waking up on Wednesday, Xinhua said.

The poisoning was caused by smoke that leaked from a boiler in the students’ dormitory, Xinhua said.

Earlier this month, 11 girls died from carbon monoxide poisoning in their dorm room in Shaanxi province after blankets fell onto a charcoal heater they were using to keep warm.

Carbon monoxide detectors are not required in schools in China, though the Education Ministry last year suggested that schools that use coal heating should install them.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas. Moderate exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and mental confusion. Prolonged exposure can lead to death.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Carbon monoxide sends 29 to Wash. state hospital

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Posted on 16th December 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

Bellingham Washington Carbon monoxide, carbon monoxide attorney, carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide exposure, Uncategorized

Date: 12/16/2008 11:00 PM

BC-Carbon Monoxide,2nd Ld-Writethru/221

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Nearly 30 people at a seafood business were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said Tuesday.

Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd said they were overcome by fumes at the Homeport Seafoods cold storage business. The fire department responded to a call Tuesday morning about a person passing out. When firefighters arrived, everyone was conscious, but people showing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can include headaches, nausea and vomiting.

Investigators suspect warehouse doors — closed due to freezing temperatures — trapped carbon monoxide emissions from forklifts, Boyd said.

In all, 29 people arrived at St. Joseph Hospital with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, said hospital spokeswoman Amy Cloud. Four were later transferred to Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle for treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, which increases oxygen pressure in body tissues and the amount of oxygen blood can transport, Cloud said.

A manager from Homeport Seafoods declined to comment.

Tony Gerbino, head of hyperbaric care at Virginia Mason, said people should be careful about running generators inside or close to windows of their homes.

Bellingham is about 90 miles north of Seattle.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

As we have said repeatedly herein and on our website, engines cannot be run indoors, without ventilation designed for such use. Portable generators, forklifts, car engines and this time of year, snowblowers all create risks. Be particularly careful not to use your gas stove to supplement your heat when the temperature dips. For more on carbon monoxide poisoning, see our webpage athttp://codamage.com

Carbon Monoxide: The statistical data

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Posted on 7th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

carbon monoxide attorney, carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide deaths, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide lawyer, carbon monoxide poisoning, CO damage, Uncategorized

Facts about carbon monoxide poisoning:

Most signs and symptoms of CO exposure are nonspecific (e.g., headache or nausea) and can be mistakenly attributed to other causes, such as viral illnesses. Undetected or unsuspected CO exposure can result in death. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The true incidence of CO poisoning is not known, since many non-lethal exposures go undetected. It has been estimated that one-third of all cases of CO poisoning are undiagnosed. – The Internet Journal of Emergency & Intensive Care Medicine

During 2001–2003, an estimated 15,200 persons with confirmed or possible non–fire-related CO exposure were treated annually in hospital EDs. In addition, during 2001–2002, an average of 480 persons died annually from non–fire-related CO poisoning. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The nonfatal rate for CO exposure was highest for children aged under 4 years (8.2 per 100,000 population), whereas the CO death rate was highest for adults aged over 65 years (0.32). Adults aged over 65 years accounted for 23.5% of CO poisoning deaths. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The annualized incidence of fatal and nonfatal CO exposures occurred more often during the fall and winter months, with the highest numbers occurring during December (56 fatal and 2,157 nonfatal exposures) and January (69 fatal and 2,511 nonfatal exposures). The annualized incidence was substantially lower during the summer months, with 21 fatal and 510 nonfatal exposures occurring during June and 22 fatal and 524 nonfatal exposures occurring during July. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The majority (64.3%) of nonfatal CO exposures were reported to occur in homes; 21.4% occurred in public facilities and areas. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

CO from motor-vehicle exhausts is the single most common cause of poisoning deaths in the United.10 Of the 11,547 unintentional CO deaths during 1979-1988, 57% were caused by motor vehicle exhausts; of these 83% were associated with stationary vehicles. Most motor-vehicle-related CO deaths in garages have occurred even though the garage doors or windows have been open, suggesting that passive ventilation may not be adequate to reduce risk in semi-closed spaces. Smoke inhalation from all types of fires is the second leading cause of CO poisoning. Most immediate deaths from building fires are due to CO poisoning and therefore, fire fighters are at high risk. – The Internet Journal of Emergency & Intensive Care Medicine

…men and adults aged over 65 years were more likely to die from CO poisoning than other persons. The higher rate in men has been attributed to high-risk behaviors among men, such as working with fuel-burning tools or appliances. The higher rate among older persons has been attributed to the likelihood of older adults mistaking symptoms of CO poisoning for other conditions common among persons in this age group (e.g., influenza-like illnesses or fatigue). CO deaths were highest during colder months, likely because of increased use of gas-powered furnaces and use of alternative heating and power sources used during power outages, such as portable generators, charcoal briquettes, and propane stoves or grills. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The most common symptoms experienced were headache (37.5%), dizziness (18.0%), and nausea (17.3%). Severer symptoms were reported less often, including loss of consciousness (7.7%), shortness of breath (6.7%), and loss of muscle control (3.5%). According to medical records, 9.3% of patients in the NEISS-AIP sample reported that they had a CO detector at home, and 100% of those indicated that the detector had alerted them to the presence of CO. – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Many victims of CO poisoning die or suffer permanent, severe neurological injury despite treatment. In addition, as many as 50% of those who recover consciousness and survive may experience varying degree of more subtle but still disabling neuropsychiatric sequela. – The Internet Journal of Emergency & Intensive Care Medicine

Islanders who insisted on staying died in Ike

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Posted on 4th October 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide deaths, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide poisoning, portable generator, portable generator and carbon monoxide poisoning, Uncategorized

Date: 10/4/2008 1:58 PM

By MONICA RHOR
Associated Press Writer

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) _ The final hours brought the awful realization to victims of Hurricane Ike that they had waited too long. This storm wasn’t like the others, the ones that left nothing worse than a harrowing tale to tell.

George Helmond, a hardy Galveston salt, watched the water rise and told a buddy: I was born on this island and I’ll die on this island.

Gail Ettenger, a free spirit who adopted the Bolivar Peninsula as her home 15 years ago, told a friend in a last phone call: I really messed up this time.

Within hours, the old salt and the free spirit were gone as the powerful Category 2 hurricane wracked the Texas Gulf Coast on Sept. 13, flattening houses, obliterating entire towns and claiming at least 33 lives.

The dead — as young as 4, as old as 79 — included lifelong Galvestonians firmly rooted on the island and transplants drawn by the quiet of coastal living.

Seven people drowned in a storm surge that moved in earlier and with more ferocity than expected. Nine others died in the grimy, sweaty aftermath, when lack of power and medicine exacted its toll. Eleven people were poisoned by carbon monoxide or killed in fires from the generators they used in their own attempts to survive.

Hundreds of people remain missing three weeks after Ike’s assault on Texas. Local and city officials are no longer keeping their own count of missing residents, and the estimate varies wildly from one agency to another.

According to the nonprofit Laura Recovery Center, about 300 people are missing. Of those, about 200 from Galveston. However, the number “goes up and down by the minute” as people call in to remove or add names, cautioned executive director Bob Walcutt.

Some vanished during the evacuation of towns in the storm’s path. Many were last heard in desperate, last-ditch calls for help.

Immediately after the hurricane, Galveston officials conducted door-to-door searches for survivors and possible victims. But the city is no longer taking an active role in the search, city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.

Instead, search teams of sheriff’s deputies, volunteer firefighters and special K-9 search and recovery units have been using airboats and all-terrain vehicles to sift through debris fields, tangled and fetid marshlands, and the rubble left behind by Ike.

Bodies could have been tossed anywhere in the marshes, where thickets of trees are littered with the contents of houses. Refrigerators, office chairs, and television sets are scattered everywhere __ in the mud, in bushes, on treetops.

“We are definitely looking and are going to do anything we can to find them, but there may not be any answers to be given,” said Galveston County emergency management spokesman Colin Rizzo. “There are definitely going to be people from Hurricane Ike that are never found.”

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Paraguay architect sentenced in deadly market fire

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Posted on 27th September 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

asphyxiation by fire, carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide hotels and lodging, CO damage, defective design, fire deaths, Uncategorized

Date: 9/24/2008 8:06 PM

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) _ A Paraguayan court convicted an architect of negligence Wednesday and sentenced him to two years in prison for faulty construction of a supermarket where 420 people died in a fire.

The three-judge panel that convicted Bernardo Ismachowiez, 53, found that he was responsible for defective design and construction that placed lives at risk. Prosecutors said there were not enough emergency exits.

Ismachowiez’s lawyer, Adolfo Ferreiro, promised to seek his client’s immediate release, saying he has already spent two years under house arrest.

More than 2,000 people were in the Ycua Bolanos supermarket in downtown Asuncion on Aug. 1, 2004, when the fire began in the bakery. The blaze quickly filled the building with thick smoke, and most of the victims died of asphyxiation.

More than 150 relatives of the fire’s victims protested outside the courthouse Wednesday, accusing the judges of corruption and calling them “scoundrels.”

“Even though the conviction is historic because it’s the first time a builder will go to prison for negligence, it’s unfortunate he received so few years,” said the leader of a victims’ association, Liz Torres.

The store’s owners and a security guard were previously given prison terms for manslaughter and endangerment on accusations they blocked the exit to keep shoppers from looting during the chaos.

But a court overturned their convictions this month, citing “serious defects” in the trial. Prosecutors are appealing.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Carbon monoxide poisoning left two tenants unconscious

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Posted on 9th August 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide lawyer, carbon monoxide poisoning, CO damage, portable generator and carbon monoxide poisoning, Uncategorized

BREWER, Maine (AP) — Carbon monoxide poisoning left two tenants unconscious and sickened many more in a 31-unit apartment complex, fire officials said. Officials believe a separated vent pipe from a new water heater allowed the colorless, odorless gas to seep into the building. Many of the victims were treated in a hyperbaric chamber.

Fourteen Safety Tips For RV User to Help Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

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Posted on 30th July 2008 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

carbon monoxide damage, carbon monoxide exposure, carbon monoxide lawyer, carbon monoxide poisoning, portable generator and carbon monoxide poisoning, RVs and carbon monoxide, Uncategorized

Since it is important for RV users to know how they can prevent carbon monoxide poisoning we have found a useful list of recommendations to ensure RV travelers are safer.

This information came from Carbon Monoxide Kills, a site that started the Carbon Monoxide Kills Awareness Campaign in 1999. They are strong advocates for carbon monoxide poisoning prevention. Their website can be viewed at: www.carbonmonoxidekills.com

These are the fourteen steps that can be taken to prevent carbon monoxide from being exposed inside RV’s.

1. USE A CARBON MONOXIDE WARNING DETECTOR.
2 – 4. Relate to inspecting the exhaust systems, the weather seals on the RV to make sure that exhaust isn’t getting inside the vehicle.
5. Yellow flames in propane-burning appliances may indicate a lack of oxygen. Diagnose and correct this problem.
6. Check vacuum cleaner exhaust.
7 – 12 Relate to the operation of an electrical generator. Look over the specifics of this carefully, but always remember, a generator has an engine, that can produce CO fumes and those can kill.
13. “If you do not feel well, do not be fooled into thinking that it is because you have been driving too long, you ate too much, or you are suffering from motion sickness. Shut off the generator and step outside for some fresh air just to be sure.”
14. Park in the “No Generator” zones that the Family Motor Coach Association recommends. http://FMCA.com

It is very important to do everything possible to make sure you are not exposed to carbon monoxide’s deadly fumes. It is also important to know the signs of exposure. Tomorrow we will review the symptoms and signs that a person has when exposed to carbon monoxide. To read ahead, http://codamage.com

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The Roots of Hope

Carbon Monoxide and Pets

Wash. woman dies; carbon monoxide found

65 children sickened by carbon monoxide in China

Carbon monoxide sends 29 to Wash. state hospital

Carbon Monoxide: The statistical data

Islanders who insisted on staying died in Ike

Paraguay architect sentenced in deadly market fire

Carbon monoxide poisoning left two tenants unconscious

Fourteen Safety Tips For RV User to Help Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

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