FireAngel

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING: 16.4 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS AT RISK

Sprue Safety Products are supporting celebrities with experiences of carbon monoxide poisoning, who have joined together with victims’ families to warn public about dangers

Almost two thirds (65%) of people in Great Britain could be at risk because they do not have an audible carbon monoxide alarm, according to new research[i] released on 13th January 2011 by the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign.

Carbon monoxide – known as the silent killer – is a highly poisonous gas that has no colour, taste or smell, making it impossible to detect without an alarm. It is produced when fuel-burning appliances are incorrectly fitted, badly repaired or poorly maintained, or if flues, chimneys or vents are blocked.

Celebrities with personal experience of carbon monoxide poisoning are joining up with families of victims to launch this year’s campaign. Former GMTV presenter and broadcaster Richard Arnold and actress/presenter Terri Dwyer both saw friends suffer severely and unexpectedly from carbon monoxide poisoning. They join Adele Forbes, who tragically lost her young son and grandparents to carbon monoxide, in raising awareness of the dangers. An audible alarm in all cases would have prevented the tragedies.

Worryingly, people seem to be apathetic or just too busy which is putting many people at risk. Of those who don’t have an audible carbon monoxide alarm, almost a third of people (30%) just ‘haven’t got round to it yet’.

Celebrity supporter, Richard Arnold, said: “I’m shocked at how few people realise the risks of carbon monoxide. My friend tragically fell unconscious in the bath after her boiler became faulty, which could have happened to any of us. Every single household should get an alarm installed – it’s the only way to be sure of detecting this silent killer.”

Adele Forbes, mother of McCauley who died aged eight from carbon monoxide poisoning, said: “We hadn’t got round to putting in an alarm yet, and I now have to live with that forever. Too many lives are lost to, or harmed by, carbon monoxide each year, and it’s devastating that my son and grandparents are part of those numbers. I urge every parent to buy a carbon monoxide alarm this week; believe me, spending £20 on an alarm is worth it to save a life.”

The campaign research also highlighted a worrying lack of public understanding about this silent killer. Of those who don’t have an audible carbon monoxide alarm:

• 13% don’t know where to get an alarm
• 12% simply didn’t consider carbon monoxide to be a significant risk to their health
• 10% say they didn’t know an alarm to detect the poisonous gas was available
• 10% think that carbon monoxide alarms are too expensive

Celebrity supporter, Terri Dwyer, witnessed the dangers of the silent killer when her mother found her friend unconscious due to carbon monoxide poisoning. She said: “Almost one in ten people have been affected or know someone who has. I’m one of them, so I know how vital it is to be aware of the risks and protect yourself and your family with an alarm. Don’t let the deaths and near-misses be in vain.”

Oliver Wright, Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign manager, said: “Our campaign can help to dispel the myths around carbon monoxide alarms. They are available at DIY stores, supermarkets, high street shops or directly from energy suppliers. They cost around £20, and many retailers are offering special discounts in support of our campaign throughout January. Importantly, they save lives.”

Wright added: “Happily, the number of people with an audible Carbon Monoxide alarm has gone up by 16%[ii] since last year, thanks to tireless campaigning from many people who care about this issue. However, sadly, the majority of people aren’t taking this very simple step to protect themselves and their families.”

In order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning in the first place, everyone should get their gas boiler, oven, hob and any other fuel-burning appliances serviced by a professional engineer every year. Worryingly, over half of people (59%) surveyed by the campaign have had one or the other of these serviced in the past 12 months.

In addition to calling for every household to have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted, we are also campaigning for a change in the law to make it compulsory for landlords to offer a CO alarm to tenants in order to receive their gas certificate.

The Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign recommends four simple steps to keep your household safe:

• Fit an audible Carbon Monoxide alarm, which should be marked with the ‘EN50291’ safety standard
• Have fuel-burning appliances serviced annually by a registered professional
• Don’t block ventilation and get chimneys swept at least once a year
• Learn about the danger signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning at http://www.co-bealarmed.co.uk/

Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! is the national campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by carbon monoxide. The campaign is run by Energy UK on behalf of Britain’s six major gas and electricity companies in partnership with the Dominic Rodgers Trust, and is supported by more than 40 other organisations. In addition to raising public awareness, the campaign is also lobbying for legislative changes to require alarms in new builds and rented properties.

For more information about the campaign and how to stay safe, visit http://www.co-bealarmed.co.uk/.

To show your support, Tweet #co-bealarmed.

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Please contact the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! press office on 020 7492 0999 or email press@co-bealarmed.co.uk for:

• Interviews with Richard Arnold, Terri Dwyer or Adele Forbes
• Real-life stories of victims of Carbon Monoxide poisoning
• High resolution photography of Richard Arnold, Terri Dwyer, Adele Forbes, Carbon Monoxide alarms and engineers servicing fuel-burning appliances
• Online footage of:
  • Dr Rob Hicks explaining the symptoms and effects of Carbon Monoxide poisoning and highlighting risk areas in the home
  • Adele Forbes telling her story
  • Celebrity campaigners, Richard Arnold and Terri Dwyer, sharing their stories in support of the campaign
  • A gas engineer servicing a boiler and demonstrating how to fit an audible CO alarm
• Reader offers on Carbon Monoxide alarms to support editorial coverage of the campaign

Celebrity story: Richard Arnold

TV broadcaster, Richard Arnold, is supporting the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign after a harrowing experience.

Richard’s great friend, Henrietta, fell unconscious in the bath due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

After a really busy day at work, radio producer Henrietta arrived home and decided to have a hot bath to unwind. Henrietta’s boiler had actually been faulty for a while but – just as many people wouldn’t have done – she hadn’t realised. Without her knowing, her faulty starting pumping Carbon Monoxide out into her flat as soon as she’d turned the hot water tap on. By the time the bath was full and she stepped into the hot water, her flat was full of this odourless, tasteless gas.

Instead of relaxing in the bath, she soon slumped into unconsciousness.

Thankfully, Henrietta’s flatmate came home just at that moment to find no answer when she called to Henrietta in the bathroom. She barged in to find Henrietta unconscious, and an ambulance managed to arrive just in time to save her.

Celebrity story: Terri Dwyer

Actress and television presenter, Terri Dwyer, is supporting the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign after a haunting experience.

Terri was always very close to her mother, and the two of them would often spend time visiting her mother’s friend. The friend had been suffering from a persistent cold for weeks, which seem to come and go. One particular evening, Mrs Dwyer phoned Terri to tell her that she was meant to be meeting her friend but that she hadn’t turned up. It was very unusual, so Terri suggested that her mother should go round to check-up on her.

Terri’s mother arrived but no-one answered the door. Feeling that something must be wrong, she got a key from the neighbour. Letting herself in, she was horrified to find the neighbour sitting unconscious in her armchair.

Thanks to some quick thinking, the ambulance soon arrived and she was immediately rushed to hospital which saved her life. Thankfully, there was no long-term damage but it took a long time for her to get back to normal.

It turned out that there was simply a leaky valve in her boiler which had been leaking Carbon Monoxide into her flat over the past few weeks. This was causing her to feel the flu-like symptoms, which would get better the longer she was away from home but get worse once she was at home again. When she turned her heating up that day due to a slight cold snap outside, the Carbon Monoxide levels increased to the point where she fell unconscious.

Real-life story: Adele Forbes

Adele Forbes tragically lost her young son and her grandparents to Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Her story is harrowing and a reminder to everyone about the lives that can be saved with just one audible alarm. 

Adele Forbes had left her son, McCauley Thomas, with his great-grandparents (Patrick Chidgey, 71 and Hazel Chidgey, 68) for the night. They were all really excited about the sleep-over, as it was a treat for Adele’s grandparents to spend time with McCauley.

Later that day, Adele phoned the house to check-in and make sure McCauley was behaving, but there was no answer. It was unusual as she knew they were planning to stay in for the evening, so she decided to pop over to check that everything was OK. Adele’s mother and her partner went with her.

They approached the house, and Adele used her spare key to open the front door. They couldn’t see or hear anyone, which was strange as the house was usually full of hustle and bustle, especially when McCauley was around.

Adele’s mother’s partner went in, immediately stopped and shouted: “Phone an ambulance”. Adele’s grandfather was lying – dead – on the kitchen floor.

Running upstairs, Adele found her grandmother dead on the bedroom floor, already dressed in her nightclothes, and found her son – in his pyjamas – curled up in bed, having died in his sleep.

Tragically, they found out that McCauley and his great-grandparents had died from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. The house had a coal fire which was used to power a central heating boiler. Unbeknown to the family, the house had a blocked chimney which caused Carbon Monoxide to build up in the house. As the gas is odourless and tasteless, the family hadn’t known about this silent killer until it was disastrously too late. If the family had known to have their chimney swept and their boiler serviced more often, this tragedy could have been prevented.

Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning

Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be difficult to diagnose as the symptoms can resemble those of food poisoning or the flu. The most common symptoms of mild Carbon Monoxide poisoning are: nausea, dizziness, tiredness, headaches and abdominal pain. Some people may also vomit.

The longer someone breathes in Carbon Monoxide, the worse the symptoms will get. They may lose their balance, vision and memory and, eventually, they will lose consciousness. This can all happen within two hours if there is a lot of Carbon Monoxide in the air.

About the campaign

The Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign was launched in October 2008. It is the national campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by Carbon Monoxide. The campaign is run by Energy UK on behalf of Britain’s six major gas and electricity companies in partnership with the Dominic Rodgers Trust, and is supported by more than 40 other organisations.

As well as raising awareness of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide and preventative action people should take to protect themselves, such as purchasing an EN50291 electronic alarm, this campaign is seeking support for two legislative changes which will make a major difference:

1)    In order to receive a gas safety certificate, landlords should offer tenants an audible Carbon Monoxide alarm. This would ensure that many of the most vulnerable members of society are offered the protection of a Carbon Monoxide alarm. The existing legal requirement for a gas safety certificate means that an appropriately qualified and registered installer checks the safety of gas appliances.

Every new home should be fitted with an audible Carbon Monoxide alarm. To mirror the current requirement for a wired-in smoke alarm to be fitted in all new-build homes, Building Regulations should be amended to require an audible Carbon Monoxide alarm to be installed. This is a simple measure, which will add no significant cost to the home builders. Following a consultation exercise in 2008-9, the Government amended part J of the Building Regulations to require the provision of a Carbon Monoxide alarm when solid fuel appliances are installed. We believe this requirement should be extended, via the next review of the Building Regulations, to cover the installation of all fuel app