Carbon Monoxide Life Safety
Extreme Systems knows how important it is to protect you and your loved ones. Having a monitored alarm panel in your home that triggers a siren simply is not enough. We can install Carbon Monoxide Detectors that will protect you and your family 24/7. Whether you're at home or away, you can have confidence knowing that Extreme Systems is prepared and dedicated to quick response when emergency police, fire, or medical assistance is needed.
Symptoms and Sources
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), “Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Because it is impossible to see, taste or smell the toxic fumes, CO can kill you before you are aware it is in your home. At lower levels of exposure, CO causes mild effects that are often mistaken for the flu. These symptoms include headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea and fatigue. The effects of CO exposure can vary greatly from person to person depending on age, overall health and the concentration and length of exposure” ( www.epa.gov/iaq/co.html).
CO is the result of incomplete combustion of natural or propane gas, kerosene, petroleum (oil), and other materials. CO can also result when the fuel-to-oxygen mixture is wrong.
According to USEPA, other sources include: “leaking chimneys and furnaces; back-drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces; gas stoves; generators and other gasoline-powered equipment; automobile exhaust from attached garages; and tobacco smoke.”
In any of the applications cited above, when the area in which the occurrence takes place is relatively airtight, CO can build up, displacing oxygen in a room or even an entire building. This will ultimately affect the human body, causing carboxyhemoglobin to occur in the bloodstream. In this state, it’s CO that binds to the hemoglobin instead of oxygen. In extreme cases this can cause death by starving the body of oxygen.
Whether Weather’s Cold or Warm
Right about now you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about something we primarily worry about during cold weather. Well, although CO is a significant concern during cold months, it continues to pose a threat even in warm weather.
Gas-fired hot water tanks, lawnmowers, motor vehicles running in an attached garage and electric gasoline-fired generators are among the potentially hazardous sources for homeowners and the general public alike. In addition, CO is always a risk in commercial facilities equipped with indoor parking garages and other types of construction. Any site where combustible fuel is burned is suspect.
The bottom line is that no one is exempt from the adverse effects of CO, no matter what time of the year it happens to be. Although vigilance is needed where it comes to safeguarding family members, the use of effective CO detection in the home and workplace can minimize the chance of exposure and thus injury or death.
