Carbon monoxide poisoning is serious. Here’s why:

Guest post: Glenn Milos, DO, is a board certified trauma/emergency medicine physician at Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center in Janesville and Mercy Walworth Hospital.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates carbon monoxide poisoning claims nearly 500 lives, and causes more than 15,000 visits to hospital emergency departments annually. In fact, just today, five people were taken to the hospital for having high levels of carbon monoxide in their systems. According to local news reports, Alliant Energy indicated a malfunctioning furnace caused the carbon monoxide release. The family did not have a carbon monoxide detector in their home.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced by burning material containing carbon. Common household appliances usually produce it.  It’s dangerous because you can’t see it, smell it, or taste it; but overexposure can cause brain damage and death.

Early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning such as headaches, nausea and fatigue, are often mistaken for the flu because the deadly gas goes undetected in a home.

The best way to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning is to install a carbon monoxide alarm on each level of your home.

On February 1, new Wisconsin law requires all residential properties to install carbon monoxide detectors. The new state law will require carbon monoxide alarms in all single family and two-unit homes, with an alarm on every floor level, and near sleeping areas. Existing homes may install any type of CO alarms: battery, plug-in, or combination smoke/CO devices. Additionally, alarms in newly constructed homes must be hard-wired with a battery back-up.

Please check your existing detectors and make sure they are working properly. Check the battery life and wiring connection. If you don’t have a detector(s), please plan to buy and install them immediately.

For more information about carbon monoxide poisoning, please click here. For more information about the new Wisconsin law, click here.