MEDIA CONTACT: Mark E. Brady, Chief Spokesperson, 240-508-7930
MEBrady@copg.md.us @PGFDPIO
Medics discovered a dangerous situation this morning when
they arrived to treat a 911 caller that felt sick. At around 12:30 am, Wednesday, June 20, an ambulance
and a medic unit were dispatched from the Laurel Fire/EMS Station 810 to a
townhouse on Pineywood Place after an adult male occupant called 911 and
reported he was ill.
When the crews entered the home they encountered a male and
female occupant, both 70ish years of age, and started their patient
assessment. A device attached to the medic’s
radio went into alert indicating high levels of carbon monoxide (CO). The ambulance crew and medics immediately
knew they were dealing with carbon monoxide exposure to the two occupants. Medics requested additional resources to the
scene and evacuated the occupants to the fresh air environment of the homes
exterior and started oxygen on both patients.
Firefighters arrived quickly and used their monitoring
equipment to find there were upwards of 1000 parts per million (ppm) of carbon
monoxide inside the townhome. A normal range of CO inside a home can range from
0 to 35 ppm.
CO is a byproduct of a fossil fuel after combustion. CO defies all human senses and cannot be
seen, smelled, heard or tasted and affects a person after being exposed and
inhaling the toxic fumes earning the nickname of the “silent killer”. After the toxic fumes are unknowingly inhaled
CO displaces oxygen inside of your lungs and denies the much-needed oxygen to
vital organs. Exposures to CO will make
a person sick up to being fatal depending on the level of CO and how long you
are exposed.
The only way to determine the presence of unhealthy CO
levels in a home is to have working CO detectors. County Law requires a CO detector on every
level of your home if you have natural gas services, a fireplace or an attached
garage. CO detectors can be purchased at
home improvement, electronic and hardware stores.
Both occupants displayed signs and symptoms of CO exposure
and were transported to an area hospital with hyperbaric services. A hyperbaric chamber is typically the
treatment of choice for patients suffering from CO exposure.
Firefighters searched the townhouse for a source of the
CO. All natural gas burning appliances
and ventilation systems were checked in the house as well as adjoining
townhouses. A running auto in the
attached garage was found to be the source of the high levels of CO. It appears that the vehicle was left running
accidentally.
Starting in 2015 all radios assigned to PGFD EMS crews have
a portable CO detector attached to it.
This will assist EMT’s and Medics to detect the presence of CO when
confronted with a situation like today. The
rapid detection protects the crews and allows for a faster treatment of the
exposure.
 |
| The yellow device is the portable CO detector attached to medics portable radio. |
Comments
Post a Comment