Carbon monoxide- How many more have to die?

Feb. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- The silent killer keeps on going. Carbon Monoxide poisoning claimed another life on the second of February this year. The BBC reported that in a home in Cleethorpes a woman died of Carbon Monoxide poisoning in a preventable incident. Fire fighters entered the property and found the body of a woman, in her 50s, in a ground-floor flat.  Luckily the neighbour’s house had a CO detector and was able to pick up the CO in the air and alert the services to the impending danger.
“Sadly it was too late for one of the occupiers but I have no doubt that the situation could have been much worse had the alarm not sounded.” A fireman commented.
It was a somewhat bittersweet report; it is saddening to hear of another death but you can’t ignore the fact that it could have been much worse. The message however is clear, CO detectors save lives. Had the woman received a CO detector she would still be alive.
    This shows that the problem is still the same as ever, ignorance and lack of education on the matter. You get the ignorance from people because they don’t see the necessity in owning a CO detector and are at risk of going down the same path and emulating the unfortunate events in Cleethorpes. This attitude is still too frequent these days and it is time for a change!

     Last year during Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week, Click a Fix gave away free CO detectors to anyone who registered with them and also introduced their eBook on what signs to look out for regarding Carbon Monoxide. With recent incidents such as Cleethorpes it is clear that people still don’t consider CO poisoning as an immediate threat. Managing Director of Click a Fix, Christopher McGowan was saddened by the news and offered his opinion on the subject as a reminder.
“We did a detector giveaway for Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week in order to raise the seriousness of the matter into the public eye, however because we are a relatively small business it was hard to grab the full attention. We did manage to educate some which we are proud of. However there is more that should be done by others to help push this forward and into the spotlight. The biggest being that large utility companies should give Carbon Monoxide detectors away for free as a unit or at the least for a reduced price. With their sizable purchasing power and influence, the costs could be vastly reduced. I don’t agree with the bigger utility companies giving them away but only as part of a bigger service package. These utility companies make hundreds of millions each year and still make Carbon Monoxide detectors hard to obtain. Can you really justify it? I can’t! It is putting a higher price on a life and it is not necessary. Is it up to the small businesses to do what is right for the customer, not just for the business? Money can come and go but once a life goes that’s final! As I said on CO awareness week I believe it should be mandatory to have a CO detector, Carbon Monoxide is much more deadly than smoke because you can’t detect it with your senses like you can with smoke. Less than 2% of Carbon Monoxide in the air can kill in two minutes.  We still have our free guide to Carbon Monoxide if anyone wishes to educate themselves further on the matter.”

  It would be beneficial for utility companies to take away a small percentage of their overall annual profit which is in the hundreds of millions, in order to give Carbon Monoxide detectors away; it would greatly enhance their image with the public. Or perhaps contribute to a partnership with government to make it happen. It would indeed be a successful venture. They should aim to take a page out of the way an American state has approached the subject. They introduced legislation which makes it compulsory to have CO detectors in homes,
“AURORA, Ill. — 2012 marks the fifth anniversary of the enactment of the Illinois Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act (Public Act 094-0741), which requires homeowners and landlords to install carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in all buildings containing bedrooms and sleeping facilities.”
It would indeed help smaller charities like CO-Gas Safety and businesses such as Click a Fix to push the matter as it would be the law to have one installed in every home and events seen in the news recently wouldn’t be so severe.

     It is time to put a stop to the read and disregard attitude towards Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, how long can you ignore something so serious? What will it take to get you to act? A death on your street or a family member becomes ill through CO poisoning. Click a Fix believe it should not come to that scenario. Just see how easily you could avoid the situation by paying a tenner.

Click a fix e booklet
http://www.clickafix.uk.com/download-free-guide.html

Statistics kindly provided by CO-Gas Safety.
http://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/index.html

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Click a Fix is a home repairs and maintenance company focusing on the essential concerns of keeping a home healthy. We provide four main services; plumbing, electrics, gas and general home repairs.
We keep things simple and jargon free.