The deaths of two Jersey City residents who died tragically from carbon monoxide less than a year ago, may have been responsible for saving the lives last week of people working in a Jersey City warehouse.
One crew member on every Emergency Medical Services Ambulance or Paramedic Unit at Jersey City Medical Center now wears a small carbon monoxide monitor as a direct result of this earlier incident. According to Jim Dwyer, EMS Department Director, the decision was made to wear the device, which is the size of a pager, to improve safety for both his staff and the public.
While on a medical call at a warehouse on Port Jersey Boulevard where many people were working, the monitor immediately alerted EMS to high CO levels in the facility, well over 100 ppm (parts per million). Jersey City Fire Department first responders on the scene were notified and PSE&G also responded to resolve the situation.
“Had we not implemented this program, we can only guess what may have happened," says Dwyer. “The early detection by our staff, and the quick response of fire and utility responders most certainly prevented more serious, possibly fatal results."
Carbon monoxide is a deadly, colorless, odorless poisonous gas that is produced by the incomplete burning of various fuels and is undetectable to human senses. Initial symptoms include headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness, with mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscular coordination and, eventually, loss of consciousness and death found with greater exposure to higher levels of carbon monoxide poisoning (above 150 ppm). According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 170 people in the U.S. die annually from it.
The winter is typically the time of year when carbon monoxide poisoning is most likely to occur as a result of the use of heating fuels.