Snow and Carbon Monoxide

Today snow is predicted.  Big snow.  Up to 18 inches in the northeast.  We may get 6 inches here in Milwaukee.  With snow comes many hazards.  Driving becomes a challenge.  For those in poor health shovelling may prove devastating. Bad weather also brings to the forefront two toxins.  The first in gasoline.  After a storm there is a spike in people who aspirate gasoline.  Getting a hydrocarbon like that into your lungs is not healthy.  As a result breathing, and oxygen exchange, can become difficult. So when you siphon gas our of the car to fill that snow blower or snowmobile, please be careful. 

The second toxin is carbon monoxide.  Almost anything that burns produces carbon monoxide.  The article pasted below from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was a stark reminder of what carbon monoxide can do.  Here was a young couple just doing some ice fishing. 

Carbon monoxide blamed in fishing death

Brothertown - Carbon monoxide poisoning caused the death of a Chilton woman in an ice shanty on Lake Winnebago, Calumet County authorities said Monday.

Sara Meyer, 30, was declared dead at the shanty Saturday. A 37-year-old man who was found unresponsive in the shelter was taken to a hospital in Appleton. His name and condition have not been released.

What does this have to do with a big snow storm.  We will be running snow blowers and snowmobiles.  Chimneys will get plugged.  Generators will get fired up as power goes out.  All of those provide an opportunity for carbon monoxide poisoning.  Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless.  It is an insidious poison that can sneak up on you.  And in the end; may prove to be deadly. 

What can you do to protect yourself, your Friends and your family.  First make sure you house or apartment has a working carbon monoxide detector.  Like a smoke detector, it may save your life.  Second, make sure generators, snowmobiles and snow blowers are all run outside away from your doors and windows.  They need air and so do you.  Don't use that kerosene heater.  It also produced carbon monoxide. 

Be smart, be safe and enjoy the snow.