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SALEM -- City firefighters are asking residents to be careful of the dangers of carbon monoxide after responding to an incident Monday when a man working in a basement was overcome by the gas known as the silent killer.
Firefighters recorded a high level of carbon monoxide gas just inside the Homewood Avenue home after being dispatched for a first responders call at 1:02 p.m. Dispatch had been advised someone had possibly been working in a basement and had a medical problem. Upon arrival, a family member had assisted the man out of the basement and he was now lying on the floor by the front door.
While he was being assisted, the house was immediately checked for carbon monoxide, with the level near the front door measured at nearly 1,000 parts per million, which is considered "extremely high." The man was removed from the residence and KLG ambulance also responded and assisted him. He declined medical transport, but said family members would take him to the hospital.
Firefighters ventilated the carbon monoxide from the residence using a fan, leaving the scene at 1:49 p.m. Monday.
According to Capt. Shawn Mesler, the carbon monoxide level was so high when they arrived it wasn't safe for firefighters to go any farther into the residence than what they did, just inside the front door. The house was under renovation, so there was no carbon monoxide detector. He estimated levels may have been even higher in the basement.
When asked what happened, Mesler reported the man had been operating a gasoline-powered pressure washer and was overcome by the carbon monoxide fumes. He said gasoline-powered equipment should not be run indoors without proper ventilation because a buildup of carbon monoxide gas can occur, resulting in health issues from the exposure. Some of the symptoms can include a headache, dizziness or nausea. At certain levels, death can occur.
Firefighters have tags attached to their meters which describe what can happen at certain levels of carbon monoxide, with 9 parts per million an acceptable exposure level.
At 35 ppm, a self-contained breathing apparatus should be used and the space should be ventilated. A level of 200 ppm can cause headaches and nausea in healthy adults and 400 ppm causes headaches within one to two hours. At 800 ppm, nausea and dizziness can occur within 45 minutes. At 2,000 ppm, death can occur within one hour.
"Carbon monoxide binds at a much higher rate than oxygen to a red blood cells in the body," Mesler said.
A manual known as "Essentials of Fire Fighting" (fourth edition), describes the process of what carbon monoxide does to hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells which carries oxygen throughout the body to the vital organs.
"In fact, carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobin, creating carboxyhemoglobin, about 200 times more readily than does oxygen. The carbon monoxide does not act on the body, but crowds oxygen from the blood and leads to eventual hypoxia of the brain and tissues, followed by death if the process is not reversed," the section on carbon monoxide said.
According to a brochure on carbon monoxide, any fuel-burning device can produce dangerous levels of the gas which is odorless, tasteless and colorless. Examples of the types of machinery that can produce carbon monoxide include gasoline-powered generators, fireplaces and wood stoves, gas stoves, gas dryers, gas water heaters, non-electric furnaces, charcoal grills, lawnmowers, snowblowers and automobiles.
With spring storms come power outages and the use of generators, which firefighters said should be used outside. Lt. Ken Vernon noted a family in another state died while using a generator in an attached garage during a power outage. Incidents with carbon monoxide occur, sometimes without a family even knowing it's happening.
Precautions can be taken to prevent a buildup of dangerous carbon monoxide levels. The brochure said cars or mowers or other gasoline-powered machinery should not be left running in an enclosed space, such as an attached garage, even with the door open. Unvented fuel-burning appliances should not be used in any room where people are sleeping and a kitchen stove should not be used for heat. Heating systems should be checked and serviced at least once a year and chimneys and vents should be checked for blockages or wear.
Mesler asked residents to make sure they have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
At the fire department, funding from a grant covered the cost of installing an exhaust venting system in the last few years to suck the exhaust out of the building when the trucks are started up. A hose is magnetically attached to the exhaust pipe of each vehicle in the firehouse so when the trucks start, the exhaust goes through the hoses and the system to the outside instead of lingering in the building. As the trucks pull out, the hoses detach themselves and cause no delay in leaving. When the trucks return, the hoses are reattached.
mgreier@salemnews.net