warrenski, flickr.com, under Creative Commons licence.
Students are being urged to never use outdoor gas appliances in enclosed spaces, after three women and a baby were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in Victoria’s east on Monday.
The three women and baby from the same family, were camping at Baw Baw National Park on Sunday, and went to bed with a butane heater on inside their tent.
The baby’s cries alerted other family members, who found the three women, aged 15, 18 and 26, unconscious in their tent.
They were dragged out into the fresh air and then driven to a nearby hospital.
The incident came a week after the death of an Ararat man who was heating his home with a camping heater attached to a LPG gas bottle. Police are awaiting a toxicology report to determine if he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
“It is obvious the more education needs to occur on carbon monoxide poisoning and preventative measures inside and outside of the home,” said Vanessa Robinson following the two incidents.
Ms Robinson lost her two sons Chase, 8, and Tyler, 6, to carbon monoxide poisoning five years ago.
The boys were sleeping with their mother when they inhaled the carbon monoxide fumes from a leaking gas heater in their Victorian home in 2010.
Ms Robinson has set up the Chase and Tyler Foundation to raise awareness of the silent killer, to lobby for law changes to make regular gas heater servicing mandatory, and to encourage people to buy detectors.
Ms Robinson is urging students to look out for the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, which include nausea, fatigue, dizziness and headaches. Many cases of carbon monoxide poisoning can go untreated as they mimic the symptoms of the flu, a cold or a even a hangover.
Image provided by the Chase and Tyler Foundation
Students lack of renting experience, limited budgets and poor housing quality make them especially vulnerable to carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Since our campaigning, we have learnt that there are gas heaters in many rental properties that are over 30 years old, which have never been serviced,” Ms Robinson said.
“Carbon monoxide could be spilling from an appliance without anyone being aware of the problem until it is too late.”
Ms Robinson also blamed soaring energy costs for the increase in outdoor gas appliances in enclosed spaces.
“People are placing their lives at risk just to keep warm. This is most likely to increase over the next few years if action is not taken.”
Victoria’s Director of Energy Safety, Paul Fearon, said the two recent incidents were reminders of why gas appliances designed for outdoor use should never be used inside the home or in enclosed spaces, including tents.
“Carbon monoxide is a silent killer,” Mr Fearon said. “You can’t see it, you can’t smell it and you can’t taste it.”
“Outdoor gas appliances are not designed to be used in enclosed spaces. Without proper ventilation, [carbon monoxide] can build up and quickly reach fatal levels.”
The Chase and Tyler Foundation are now preparing a Change.org.au campaign to push for new laws to enforce regular maintenance of all fuel burning appliances and the introduction of carbon monoxide alarms for all rental and government housing.
More information:
- The Chase and Tyler Foundation– www.chaseandtyler.org.au
- Energy Safe Australia– www.esv.vic.gov.au
- Plumbing Industry Commission – www.pic.vic.gov.au
