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comments on CO alarm article on August 25, 2021
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Ken
My recommendation for monitoring CO is be sure there is a Fire Dept Knox box on the house so the FD can access the premise. Most FD have their own Medco key number for the Knox Box. Also, instruct the central station calling the premise to be sure all pets are removed as well as humans.
Great article.
John Elmore
Security By Elmore Inc
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Ken;
I read with much interest George Kerr's words about CO detection. While I applaud his life long efforts devoted to Health and Life Safety, there is a fatal flaw in his philosophy on CO detection. Carbon Monoxide is present in almost all of the air we breathe. If you are in a room with someone smoking a cigarette, CO is one of the products of combustion. If you are driving in your car, you are invariably breathing in some of the CO that is in the exhaust of the vehicles moving in front of you in traffic. In speaking with Scott Banker from System Sensor (he teaches many of the classes on CO detectors,) the industry had to determine a level (measured in parts per million) of carbon monoxide, AND also determine a time frame, where the detector was going to react to what would amount to a CO threat, or just a low level of CO that we breathe in everyday.
In studying the mechanism of what is deadly about CO, it is important to learn a little bit about anatomy and physiology of the human body. This is in relation to how the body gets oxygen to it's cells. When we breath, the little air sacs in the lungs called alveoli allow for the exchange of Carbon Dioxide (which is a waste product carried away from the cells of the body) and Oxygen which is then carried to the body via the arteries. A little bit of chemistry enters into the picture when you talk about Carbon Monoxide. When we breathe, Carbon Dioxide which bonds to our red blood cells is exchanged for Oxygen in our lungs. When we ingest (through breathing) Carbon Monoxide, it more readily bonds with the red blood cells and that bond cannot be broken. The cells won't make the exchange of CO for Oxygen. In essence, once a red blood cell bonds with CO, it is no longer useful to the human body. The good news, is that the human body is constantly manufacturing new red blood cells (this is done primarily in our bone marrow.) The liver routinely destroys red blood cells. It doesn't determine if they are old or new, or functioning or non functioning. Basically, the human body replaces ALL of your red blood cells every 3-4 days. That is why when a person gets CO poisoning, they say the first 72 hours are the most critical. If the exposure was not that great, there may be enough functioning red blood cells to sustain the person until new red blood cells are manufactured. The part that isn't easy to measure, is how much oxygen and for how long has the brain been deprived of Oxygen.
So while the industry must determine what is considered a high level of CO, it is common for us all to be exposed to low levels of the gas. Placing CO detectors in a home are somewhat of a leap of faith. Since CO is odorless, colorless and tasteless, we trust that if the little LED stays GREEN, the unit is working. If they lower the standard too far, then false alarms enter into the picture, and we lose all credibility when we try to sell this life saving technology. It's not like smoke where you could actually test a detector by creating a smoke condition. In this litigious society that we live in, if the manufacturers didn't have hard scientific facts to base a defense on, rather than some voodoo logic, we would all get taken to the cleaners and put out of business. Remember too, it was me who railed against the constantly changing standards. My point there was this: Unless all the states come out with a law that says CO detectors must sound if the CO level reaches XXX of parts per million over XXX number of minutes, then there is no standard. States will mandate stricter guidelines, but then municipalities will still fine the homeowner and possibly the alarm installer if the state standard brings the balance too close to avoid false alarms. At the current levels, CO detectors don't sound unless the level has risen dramatically over a period of a few hours. And like it or not, we can all LIVE with that. And again, it's the government regulations that determine how air tight a new home must be, by way of vapor barriers and insulation in the walls attics and windows. People didn't seal up houses with insulation when fuel oil was 9 cents per gallon. The fuel was cheap, and there was no pay back by way energy savings outweighing the cost. We are literally caught in a Catch 22.
John from NJ
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Ken,
Regarding Carbon Monoxide
We recently discussed carbon monoxide (co) issues at a fire company training class, simply put any reading above outside air, commonly referred to as background warrants further investigation. Our dispatchers are instructed to advise occupants to evacuate immediately and our firefighters are trained to use two independent instruments when investigating co incidents. Furthermore that cannot leave the scene until the source of the co is determined, the building is posted with a vacate order or turned over to a gas utility where gas fire appliances are involved. It’s important to note that co sources are not limited to gas fired appliances and can include but are not limited to attached garages, oil and solid fueled appliances and fireplaces, portable heating equipment, and electric generators. Energy conservation codes have exacerbated this issue as homes are better sealed from infiltration. As Mr Kerr pointed out even low levels of co exposure are dangerous as carbon monoxide accumulates in the body resulting in increased toxicity over time.
As for reporting some alarm companies report co incidents as fire alarms which they are not, others transmit as supervisory status and yet others simply verify and don’t transmit at all. The best approach is to play it safe when handling imminent life safety events, retransmit them immediately to the appropriate emergency services agency but make sure your crystal clear what the event is to emergency services.
Better for the fire department to force entry and possibly saves someone’s life than not. Make sure proper ITM is being performed to minimize false alarms.
Regarding Building Renovations
Anyone who observes illegal work should report that to your building department or fire marshals office. In our jurisdiction illegal and or unpermitted work gets you an immediate stop work order and penalty for each trade involved, i.e building, electric, plumbing, fire. The penalty is $ 2,000.00 for each, $ 8,000 for all four. Its up to everyone to report these activities or the problem will never be resolved.
Hope this helps
John Drucker, CET
Fire Protection Subcode Official
Fire/Building/Electrical Inspector
Fire Marshals Office
Borough of Red Bank, NJ
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