Posts

Tenn. Merchant Overcome By CO Poisoning At His Shop

The owner of a Kingsport, Tenn., automobile paint shop — known for appearing in local commercials — was found suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning Friday morning at his business, according to the Times News.

 http://www.timesnews.net/article/9065689/bill-mcconnell-suffers-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-at-kingsport-paint-shop

Bill McConnell was taken from his establishment, Bill McConnell Paint and Body Shop, to Holston Valley Medical Center, where he was in stable condition. A dog that McConnell kept on his premises was killed by the carbon monoxide that sickened McConnell.

A little bit before 8 a.m. an employee found McConnell mumbling, and that he had had also vomited, the Times News reported. McConnell sometimes stayed overnight at his shop because he lived out of state, the paper said.

EMTs were called to the scene, and apparently at that point McConnell was more coherent.

The Kingsport Fire Department suspected that the source of the carbon monoxide was “gas-powered equipment in the garage area, which was not burning off property,” the Times News wrote. The entire building had to be fully ventilated.

 

 

 

 

/0 Comments/by

Woman Dies After Suffering Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Boating

One of the two people who were hospitalized after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday while boating has died, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/05/30/2527743/woman-dead-nacimiento-lake.html

The victim was Sandy Valencia, 23, of Salinas, Calif., according to a press release from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department.

http://www.slosheriff.org/_Press/PRView.aspx

The release said that Valencia was declared legally dead Monday, but had been kept on life support until Thursday, when an organ donation procedure was completed.

Valencia and an unidentified man were boating on Lake Nacimiento, and apparently got carbon monoxide poisoning by sitting in the back of boat near the engine exhaust. When sheriff’s officers and Monterey County Park Rangers on patrol were flagged down, Valencia  was not breathing. The responders initiated CPR.

Both victims were transported to a local hospital.

 

/0 Comments/by

Carbon Monoxide Leak At Pa. Hotel Hospitalizes Two

Two guests were hospitalized Friday night after a carbon monoxide leak at a Lancaster, Pa., hotel, according to Fox 43.

http://fox43.com/2013/05/11/carbon-monoxide-leak-at-heritage-hotel-linked-to-malfunctioning-boiler/#axzz2T32dJCDh

The incident happened at the Heritage Hotel on Centerville Road. The hotel was evacuated after two guests got sick and had the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, Fox 43 said.

The two ill guests were brought to a local hospital for treatment, and then were released.

Firefighters who responded to the scene detected high carbon monoxide levels, which they found came from a malfunctioning boiler, on the second and third floors of the hotel, Fox 43 reported.

The hotel’s owner issued a statement, according to the TV station.

“The safety of our guests and our staff is our No. 1 priority,” Matt DeRose, president of Heritage Hotel Lancaster & Heritage Hospitality, said in a statement. “As you can imagine this news came as a shock. We have been working around the clock on this matter.”‘

 

/0 Comments/by

Eau Claire Family Saved From Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

A family in Eau Claire, Wis., was rescued from potentially fatal carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday night, which came from a generator in their basement, according to WEAU-TV.

http://www.weau.com/news/headlines/Family-rescued-from-Carbon-Monoxide-poisoning–203517181.html?ref=181

The local fire department was called to a home on Reserve Street, where two children had already exited and were standing with their grandmother, WEAU reported.

The first responders had carbon monoxide meters that showed them there were high levels of the lethal gas present in the house, according to WEAU. The parents were inside the home, unresponsive. They were taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

The source of the carbon monoxide was a generator that the family had operating in its basement, WEAU said. The Eau Claire fire chief advised town residents that gas-powered generators need to be kept outside and far enough away from a residence that its fumes can’t be blown back into the building by any wind, WEAU reported.

The home did not have any carbon monoxide detectors, according to authorities.

 

 

 

/0 Comments/by

‘Buckwild’ Star Gandee’s Death Sounds Like CO Poisoning

When I heard that one of the stars of MTV’s reality show “Buckwild” had been found dead with two other men in their vehicle, I figured they were all victims of carbon monoxide poisoning.

And although as of late Monday authorities still hadn’t released a cause of death for the trio, I’m still betting it was from CO, not much of a leap when you know the details of how Shain Gandee, 21, was found.

The bodies of Shain, his uncle David Gandee, 48, and Donald Robert Myers, 27, were discovered in a Ford Bronco on a dirt road in Sissonville, W.Va., according to Fox News.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/04/01/buckwild-starshain-gandeeone-three-found-dead-report-says/

That  story quoted Kanawha County authorities who said that the Bronco’s muffler was submerged in mud, likely meaning that any exhaust pipe was below the surface, as well.

With the muffler and exhaust pipe plugged up with mud, the Bronco’s exhaust likely backed into the vehicle, filling it with lethal carbon monoxide.

I’ve written about several fatal accidents that were quite similar to this, when off-road “mudding” trips ended in tragedy.

If I am right about the cause of Gandee’s death, then the only good thing about it is that it provides a teachable moment. The youths who watched “Buckwild” and will read about his death will learn about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, and how a blocked exhaust pipe could end in death.

The three victims, according to the Fox News story, were last seen alive Sunday afternoon at a bar. They said they were going to do some off-road driving.

 

/0 Comments/by

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sends 7 To Grand Rapids

Seven Lansing, Mich., residents suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday were flown to Grand Rapids to undergo treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, according to The Grand Rapids Press.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/03/lansing_residents_flown_to_gra.html

Lansing firefighters were summoned to a house on Tenny Street early Wednesday morning after several residents said they felt sick. The responders found high levels of carbon monoxide, 300 parts per million compared with the normal reading of 10 parts per million, The Press reported.

Consumers Energy workers were called to the scene, and they discovered that the home’s furnace had a crack in its exhaust vent and was the source of the carbon monoxide leak. The house’s residents said that they had the furnace repaired the day before, Tuesday, according to The Press.

I’d ask for a refund for that work if I lived in that house.

Responders evacuated the residents and brought them to a local hospital.

/0 Comments/by

Housekeepers Hospitalized After Hotel CO Leak

Two housekeepers at a Chattanooga, Tenn., hotel had to be hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning Friday, according to WDEF-TV.

http://www.wdef.com/news/story/Carbon-Monoxide-Leak-Identified-at-Hixson-Motel/N4hnWcZvG0uY5Y7fGbSgoA.cspx

The incident happened at the Hixson Holiday Inn Express, where the housekeepers where in the basement when they began to feel flu-like symptoms, according to the TV station. The local fire department blamed the carbon monoxide leak on bad work done by someone who fixed a broken water heater.

A Chattanooga fire official said that the worker disconnected an exhaust pipe on the broken water heater, and then two working water heaters took in that exhaust and spewed it out into the hotel, WDEF reported.

The Holiday Inn Express doesn’t have carbon monoxide detectors, nor does it have to under state law. Effective Jan. 2, only new hotels or those undergoing renovation have to install the detectors, according to WDEF.

/0 Comments/by

Marine Carbon-Monoxide Death Sparks Suit

The family of a young Marine who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his girlfriend’s apartment in Meridian, Idaho, has filed a lawsuit over his death, according to KTVB-TV.

http://www.ktvb.com/home/Lawsuit-filed-on-behalf-of-Marine-who-died-at-Meridian-apartment-complex-196166001.html

McQuen Forbush, 18, died in November of the lethal gas, which leaked from a water heater at the apartment complex.

Now his family is suing a number of defendants — including the owners of the Sagecrest apartment complex, First Rate Property Management, Parkcenter Plumbing and the water heater’s maker — for wrongful death, negligence and personal injury, KTVB reported.

The lawsuit alleges that Sagecrest knew there was a dangerous problem with its water heaters but didn’t address the issue, according to KTVB.

/0 Comments/by

Two Die Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In Fresno

Last week two people died of carbon monoxide in Fresno, Calif., part of a surge of such poisoning cases during the cool weather in the valley, according to KFSN-TV.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/health&id=8970131

Andre Benoit and Michal McClosky were carbon monoxide fatalities after they used a generator inside a warehouse, according to the TV station. Another woman was taken to Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in critical condition after being exposed to the deadly fumes.

Fresno has seen an upswing in carbon monoxide poisonings, Dr. William Dominic, head of CRMC’s Leon S. Burn Center, told KFSN. That center has treated 13 people for carbon monoxide poisoning since November, a jump up from the typical four patients it usually treats each year, according to KFSN.

Dominic pointed out that the less affluent are sometimes more vulnerable to carbon monoxide poisoning because of their inadequate homes or apartments. They may have poor or no heat, and therefore turn to an open fire or a barbeque grill inside to keep warm.

Sources of heat like a grill emit carbon monoxide, which essentially prevents human tissue from getting oxygen. And in a residence without ventilation, that carbon monoxide can reach lethal levels.

in in

/0 Comments/by

Snow-Blocked Tailpipes Kill 2 With Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

After this weekend’s snow storm, the governor of Connecticut warned residents to be careful about unblocking vents on their houses and properly venting generators to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Too bad the governor of Massachusetts didn’t issue similar advisories.

Two people in that state,  including an 11-year-old boy, died of carbon monoxide when snow covered and blocked their cars’ exhaust pipes, according to AOL. And two other victims had to be hospitalized for CO poisoning.

http://weather.aol.com/2013/02/09/boston-boy-11-dies-of-carbon-monoxide-in-running-car/?ncid=webmail3

Imagine the horror of a father in Boston’s Dorchester section when his son died this weekend, died after the dad put the boy in a running car to warm him up. The father and son had been shoveling snow together, but the kid got cold. The dad turned on his car and had the lad get in it, AOL reported.

But apparently a snow plow then came down the street and packed snow in the car’s tailpipe, stopping the lethal carbon monoxide from escaping. It instead backed up into the car, poisoning the boy.

AOL said that just a few hours later, a man was discovered dead in a car with its engine running in Mattapan. Once again, the vehicle’s tailpipe was blocked by snow.

And in the third incident, two children aged 5 and 8, were sent to the hospital Saturday night when their father put them in a running car  as he was busy shoveling snow in East Boston, according to AOL.

/0 Comments/by