Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that is responsible for more than 400 unintentional deaths and over 14,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among all age groups, children under the age of 5 have the highest estimated rate of carbon monoxide-related emergency department visits, which are most often a result of CO exposure from fuel-burning ovens, space heaters, generators, indoor grills and fireplaces.

“Carbon monoxide is especially harmful to children, who are affected by smaller doses than adults," says Britney Lombard, Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Injury Prevention Manager and the state lead for Safe Kids Colorado, a coalition that offers important safety tips, workshops and programs that help prevent childhood injuries. Carbon monoxide can more easily build up in children’s blood, and as a result, they may experience symptoms sooner than a healthy adult.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be similar to the flu, but larger doses can be lethal. Symptoms include:

• Nausea 
• Confusion 
• Vomiting 
• Headache

When a person is brought to the emergency room for carbon monoxide poisoning, oxygen therapy is used to treat symptoms and to lower carbon monoxide levels in the blood. Healthcare providers might also use a full-body hyperbaric chamber that applies air pressure to remove the carbon monoxide faster. For those who survive carbon monoxide poisoning, the long-term effects can include memory loss, impaired motor skills, and heart and lung problems. Sometimes, the carbon monoxide injury needs to be managed for the rest of their lives.

Prevent carbon monoxide poisoning

Fortunately, with the installation of a carbon monoxide alarm — the only safe way to detect carbon monoxide — injuries and fatalities related to carbon monoxide poisonings can be dramatically reduced. That’s because a carbon monoxide alarm in the home can warn families when concentrations of carbon monoxide reach dangerous levels.

Colorado law requires that carbon monoxide alarms are installed in the home. The Lofgren and Johnson Families Carbon Monoxide Safety Act was signed into law in 2009 to honors the lives of Caroline, Parker, Owen and Sophie Lofgren and Lauren Johnson, who tragically died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the winter of 2008. The Act requires a CO alarm to be installed within 15 feet of bedrooms in all newly built single- and multi-family residences. Homeowners who sell their residence and existing rental properties that have a change of occupancy must also follow this rule. At the federal level, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends a CO alarm on every floor of the home and outside the sleeping areas.

Although carbon monoxide alarms are as important to home safety as smoke alarms, many families don’t have this vital safety device in their homes. They may not be aware of the risks or may not to be able to afford to to add them to their homes. But Lombard says that families who need assistance may be able to find carbon monoxide alarms for free in their community.

“Carbon monoxide detectors can be found for around $15 to $30 each,” Lombard says. "Some local fire departments may provide them for families who are unable to purchase them. This is an important precaution to take for your family's safety."

Some smoke detectors are combination detectors, meaning they also check for carbon monoxide. To see if you have one of these in your home, simply test the buttons and see if it alerts you to both at once. Usually, however, these alarms are separate.

Carbon monoxide safety tips

Carbon monoxide poisonings can happen throughout the year. However, incidents increase as cold weather approaches and homeowners use more fuel-burning appliances, which can cause dangerous levels of carbon monoxide to build up in the home.

Here are some simple carbon monoxide safety tips families can use to protect themselves:

• Prevent carbon monoxide buildup. Make sure heating appliances are in good working order and used only in well-ventilated areas.
• Don’t run a car engine in the garage, even to warm it up. Move the car outside first.
• Install a CO alarm outside every sleeping area, on every level of your home and within 20 feet of any fuel-burning appliance.
• When you check your smoke alarm batteries each month, check the batteries on your CO alarms at the same time. Replace the batteries twice a year. It’s good practice to do this in the spring and fall along with turning clocks back or getting ready for seasonal changes.
• Never use a stove for heating the home.
• Have all gas-, oil- or coal-burning appliances inspected by a technician every year to ensure they’re working correctly and properly ventilated.
• If a CO leak is suspected, open windows to allow fresh air into the home. If someone who has been in a poorly ventilated room with a fuel-burning appliance exhibits symptoms including headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting or confusion, move the victim to a ventilated area and call 911.
• Create an evacuation plan in case of CO buildup, so that everyone knows where to meet outside the home in a safe place, similar to a fire plan.
• Since symptoms mimic many common childhood illnesses, a telltale sign of potential carbon monoxide poisoning is if more than one person in the home suddenly feels dizzy or ill for no apparent reason. If this happens, or if a CO alarm goes off, open the windows, get everyone outside immediately and call 911 from a pre-arranged meeting place.

A delay could have life-threatening consequences. By practicing good safety habits, your family has a much better chance of not becoming a victim of this silent killer.