Personal Injury Attorney, Patrick Bailey commented on the recent Today Show news story about carbon monoxide poisoning. 

 

"The nationwide ice rink exposure to carbon monoxide poisoning is worse than gross negligence, it is criminal negligence. The long term effects of carbon monoxide exposure are medically well established. Such exposure can result in crippling brain damage, including cognitive deficits, memory loss, inability to focus, confusion, anxiety and depression. Over 20,000 people are treated in emergency rooms across the country and the numbers are growing.

None of the enclosed ice rinks should be should be using gas powered ice sweepers. The toxic exposure to participants and spectators presents very serious health hazards that have the potential of lasting a life time."

 

See the full story below

 

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Carbon monoxide poisoning is the biggest silent killer in the United States. Last week, five teenagers died in a Florida hotel room, and carbon monoxide poisoning is being blamed for their deaths. The five friends were found in a motel room in Hialeah Florida, and had apparently gathered to celebrate the birthday of one of the teenagers. The maid at the hotel discovered the bodies and called 911.

Fire crews conducted tests on the air in the room, and found high concentrations of carbon monoxide. The room in which the bodies were found is located over the garage. The group’s car was found still running in the garage.  A door to the staircase leading to the garage was left open and allowed carbon monoxide from the vehicle’s exhaust to enter the room.  Toxicology reports confirmed the group had died of accidental CO poisoning.

Unfortunately, death from carbon monoxide poisoning is all too common. According to California carbon monoxide poisoning lawyer Patrick Bailey, this is a tragedy which occurs too frequently. According to Bailey, “most motels don't have carbon monoxide detectors, and many do not conduct annual inspections, which is a recognized minimum safety standard.” According to Bailey, “this simply should never have happened. Five families’ lives have been devastated because of the nation's number-one silent killer:  CO poisoning.”

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas that is formed as a result of burning material containing carbon. It is often found in car exhaust, but can also be produced by common household appliances like water heaters, charcoal grills, generators, propane stoves and wall heaters.” The risks of carbon monoxide poisoning come when these dangerous fumes accumulate in confined spaces.

 

Carbon monoxide poisoning appears to have claimed two lives in Silverhill, Alabama. Samantha Combs and her mother, Donna Henderson, were found dead in their mobile home just before midnight on Monday, March 8. The coroner’s report is back in Combs' case and reveals she did in fact die of a lethal dose of carbon monoxide poisoning. Results of her mother's autopsy are still pending, and the police are still investigating the matter.

Carbon monoxide can be dangerous because it is undetectable by normal human senses. It gives off no odor, has no taste or color, and its symptoms can often be mistaken for those caused by other ailments. Lethal doses of carbon monoxide don’t always occur all at once but rather build up over days or weeks until dangerous levels are reached. Symptoms can be headache or nausea, and are often mistaken for signs of the flu. A victim might begin feeling sick, take a nap to try to recover and never wake again.

Carbon monoxide poisons the body by replacing oxygen in the blood, bonding with molecules that would otherwise carry oxygen where it’s needed. This process can be very slow, occurring over hours, days, or even weeks. Poorly maintained heating fixtures in homes are the most common culprits, although automobile exhaust carries substantial amounts of the substance as well. This is why automobile owners should not start or run gas-powered vehicles inside an enclosed structure, such as a garage.

Carbon monoxide detectors are readily available, easily detect the gas, and can warn people long before levels build to the point where they can be dangerous or fatal. Once a leak is detected, the source can be tracked down and repaired, be it a water heater, stove, gas fireplace or house furnace.

In the case of Combs and her mother, the source of the CO that poisoned them is as yet undetermined. Last seen on the Friday before their bodies were found, the undetected CO leak in their mobile home poisoned the two slowly and quietly over the weekend with no outward indication of the pending tragedy.