Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless – and noxious – gas that nearly claimed five lives last week had it not been for firefighters and technology.
It was about 10 a.m. when an ambulance crew got a call for someone feeling ill in a private residence at 156th Street and 111th Avenue in Jamaica.
Two crewmembers and a lieutenant responded and “immediately upon walking in, the carbon monoxide meter and alarm went off,” said Steven Warren, a captain with the FDNY EMS who responded to the scene.
Warren explained to The Courier that each EMS crewmember carry these meters on his or her belt.
The reading inside the home, he said, was 700 parts per million.
“That’s an exceedingly high reading [as it should be near zero],” he said. “It meant there was a gas leak in the house.”
The crew rounded up the home’s residents – three adults and two children, ages 7 and 10 – and got them into an ambulance, where Warren, as the captain, checked the victims’ carbon monoxide saturation with a device called RAD 57.
“All patients had significantly high readings,” “he said.
They were placed on oxygen and taken to Queens Hospital Center.
The home was aired out and decontaminated by fire suppression, who determined the cause of the carbon monoxide leak was a faulty boiler.
“Make sure you have working carbon monoxide detectors, especially when it’s cold outside,” said FDNY spokesperson Steve Ritea.
“They are inexpensive to buy and easy to maintain,” echoed Warren. “They could save a life.”
Or, in this case, five lives, thanks to a quick response.
“I’m so proud of my crew and what they did,” he said. “I’ve started the paperwork for them to receive meritorious awards.”
