Carbon monoxide detector saves Ottawa family
Faulty hot water tank to blame for high CO reading in home
A carbon monoxide detector can be thanked for saving the lives of an Ottawa family of four after a late night scare Thursday.
Paramedics responded around 11:44 p.m. when a carbon monoxide alarm went off in a home on David Drive, just off Meadowlands Drive.
Firefighters already at the home said early readings detected a carbon monoxide level of 150 PPM (parts per million). The normal levels should be 0 PPM.
A father and mother, both 42, along with their two sons, 11 and 8, were treated on scene with high concentration oxygen for high levels of the gas in their blood.
Their blood levels did return to normal in the ambulance and they did not have to go to the hospital. Paramedics say the family was fortunate there was a functioning carbon monoxide detector in the home.
The cause was determined to be a faulty hot water tank.
A Gatineau family of four also faced carbon monoxide poisoning on Dec. 30. They were treated in hospital and returned home the next day. They did not have a carbon monoxide detector and the reading was more than three times higher.
On Dec. 30, 2010, three members of a Buckingham, Que., family died due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide is often called the silent killer because it is very hard to detect and symptoms are sudden and violent.