Good advise...
I have a co-worker who went thru the same thing at home.
His house nearly killed him and four other people due to a faulty gas
furnace.
My company bought everyone, 160 people, a CO2 detector.
Convertible or not..
Ran your car in the garage enough to make the thermostat kick in ?
-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Kahler [mailto:brad.kahler@141.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 8:07 PM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Cc: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: (Fwd) [oletrucks] A horrifying ol' truck story....
Listers, this came from the Ole-trucks list and it sure seems like
something
that we might all want to think about.
Brad
This is an account of a truly frightening experience of an old truck
owner, member of the Northern Cal Chev / GMC Truck Club on his way
home from the Truckin' Nationals in Paso Robles last weekend. I'm
passing
it on to the group in hopes it will prevent it happing to YOU!
>
>Our trip back from Paso Robles ended with a horrifying experience.
>
>Fortunately, everyone is fine this morning but our entire family spent
>
> the night in the emergency room. We were all exposed to Carbon
Monoxide
>
>Poisoning (CO). I can't tell you how lucky we are to still be here.
>
>
>
>Yesterday morning, sometime during the poker run, I figure, the last
foot
>or so of my tail pipe fell off. I noticed a new rattle so that was the
only
>reason I checked it out. I didn't really think much about it being a
problem
>other than I would need to repair it when I got home. Boy was I wrong!
>
>We left the show at about 11 and drove over to the coast to have lunch.
>We drove back, gassed-up and left Paso Robles at about 2:30. The truck
club,
>about 4 trucks, caught up with us right away on 101 and we stayed with
>them to about King City. They pulled off for a break but we kept going
>enjoying the ride in the sunny weather. We could see, however, that we
were
>heading into the storm.
>
>At around Soledad, it began raining so we had to close some of the
vents.
>I suppose that is when the circumstances began causing the problem. At
>
>around Salinas, we stopped for gas and it was really raining now so we
>had to roll up the windows and turn on the defroster.
>
>Somewhere south of Gilroy, I'm not sure where, Jeremy, our youngest
woke
>up in utter terror as if waking from a nightmare but it was 100 times
worse!
>He was screaming uncontrollably, his eyes were wide open but he was
staring
>up into his eyelids.
>My wife pulled out the cell phone to call the Dr. but the battery was
>dead.
>He settled back down so I kept driving. I figured that it would be
better
>to get home rather than stop in the middle of nowhere in the driving
rain.
>I still had not put two and two together.
>We arrived home. I pulled Jeremy from the truck immediately. He was
>totally passed out and slumped like a wet rag. I tried to wake him and
>fortunately he woke again screaming uncontrollably in terror.
>
>After tending to Jeremy, I looked up to see my other son Gregory
staggering
>across the lawn. Uncontrollably, he walked and fell directly into a
rose
>bush. I was wondering what was going on. (He likes to spin around in
our
>swing, making himself dizzy and amuse himself trying to walk.) In my
mind
>
>I f igured that is what he had done. I then glanced over at the swing
to
>provide verification but the swing was hanging dead still. I knew at
this
>point that something was seriously wrong. I ran over to him pulling him
off
>the rose bush and HE was passed out! I managed to wake him and put him
on
>the front porch next to a screaming Jeremy.
>
>I was yelling to my wife to call 911 and there was no response. When we
had
>arrived home, she told me she had to go to the bathroom so I figured
that's
>where she went. I went into the house and looked down the
hallway--there
>she was passed out on the floor lying in a puddle.
>
>I was terrified. I called 911 and yelled for an ambulance to come to
our
>address. While on the phone with the dispatcher she kept telling me to
get
>everyone out of the house. I couldn't understand why. We had just
gotten
>home and hadn't even been in the house. I put everything together and
>thought the carbon monoxide poisoning had to be it. I told her we had
>been driving for several hours in my old truck. The firemen arrived
with
>oxygen tanks in hand and immediately put all four of us on oxygen. Then
all 4 of
>us were taken to the emergency room in 2 ambulances and were put on
pure
>oxygen for the rest of the night.
>
>I thank the good Lord for watching over us. A few more moments of
>exposure and we could have been goners.
>My CO level in the blood was highest at 19%. A threshold, which is
>considered server exposure, is 20%. Jeremy's was the lowest at 8%.
>Catherine's was 18%, and Gregory's was 14%.
>
>I am being very critical of myself right now in not realizing what was
going
>on sooner and taking more appropriate action. I did what I did. In
these
>situations, when your body is oxygen starved, one doesn't have the
capacity
>to think rationally. CO is an odorless gas and is more easily taken
into
>your blood than oxygen. You don't know what's happening to you as it is
>happening to you. All the motivations to get home to safety, tend to an
>ailing child, and get out of a driving rainstorm overrode my instincts
to
>get out of the truck.
>
>It is important that we old truck lovers know that this stuff can
happen and
>that we pay attention to the signs and signals that something might be
>wrong. It can mean the difference between life and death. Amongst all
the
>shiny chrome, slamming, tubbing, and restoring, etc. there's a
dangerous
>side to this hobby of which we all need to be reminded. If we don't pay
>attention, there can be serious consequences.
>
>I don't know what you want to do with this message Jim, but, you have
my
>permission to publish it in the newsletter or post it on the Web site
>whatever. We need to remind (or educate in the first place) everyone of
the
>dangers that lurk. Hopefully we can prevent fatal or near fatal
accidents in
>the process.
>
>Check your exhaust and seal up those leaks. Carbon Monoxide is a killer
>and it will sneak up on you without you even knowing!
>
>Happy to be alive!
>
>Andrew Edwards
>
>Footnote,
>Catherine stated the blood tests were taken about one hour after they
all had
>been on pure oxygen. No telling what the % was when they got home! She
also
>stated they have a home CO detector that was given as a gift. Now it
will
>come out of the box and get put to use.
>If goes without saying we're all grateful for their safe return home.
>Andy, don't be too hard on yourself. The more CO you get, the less you
>can reason.
>It's a wonder you were able to drive home.
>Jim
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