Dec. 7--CHEYENNE -- Firefighters here respond to about six calls on carbon monoxide every month.
That's once or twice a week that a family or individual is in danger of dying of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In fact, it's the no. 1 cause of accidental poisonings in America, said Mark Stephens, public education officer at the Cheyenne Fire Department.
The gas is odorless and colorless and can leak into a home or vehicle, killing the occupants inside in a matter of hours.
This time of year, when heaters are being cranked up and cars are being warmed in garages, it's especially important to know how to avoid it.
Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of burning and is produced by appliances like furnaces, stoves and cars. If they are not properly ventilated, the gas can build up and cause problems.
Stephens said the most common culprits are leaky furnaces and hot water heaters. They can start to leak carbon monoxide into a home in the middle of the night, and the family can be dead by morning, he said.
Regular maintenance on appliances can decrease the probability that they will leak.
Letting a car run in the garage is also a problem. Even if the garage door is open, the gas can be sucked into the home because of differences in pressure, Stephens said.
When inhaled, the gas builds up in a person's blood, said Dr. Michael Means, director of the Emergency Room at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.
Basically, it bonds to blood molecules so the blood can't get oxygen and the person suffocates.
But the symptoms can come on slowly and don't always scream "life threatening" situation. Instead, they are often flu-like, Means said.
They can include headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea and even seizures and coma.
If several people in a home or vehicle start to have symptoms like these, the first step is to get into fresh air, Means said, and then get to the Emergency Room right away.
Because the gas is odorless and colorless, it can be hard to detect, especially at night when everyone in a home is sleeping.
That's why Stephens recommends that carbon monoxide detectors be installed on every floor of a home.
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