BECKLEY, W.Va. — This week’s carbon monoxide scare at United Bank in Beckley was very much a reminder of the dangers we all face during winter.
At least eight people at the bank were transported to a hospital after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, overcome by the odorless and difficult to detect gas.
Carbon monoxide is referred to as the silent killer, and is especially dangerous when we are at our most vulnerable, during a power outage. Or, in the case of the bank accident, when a home or building’s heating unit malfunctions.
Following the impact of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, 117 deaths were reported as a result of the storm and its aftermath. Most of those were due to drowning, but nine of them — including some in West Virginia — were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning as families tried to stay warm without power across a broad area of the eastern United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it doesn’t take a superstorm to bring trouble from carbon monoxide.
In 2012, a guest died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the Holiday Inn Express in Charleston when a newly installed swimming pool heater malfunctioned.
Nationally, about 450 deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning occur each year, with about 20,000 non-fatal injuries, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
Here are some tips on how to avoid carbon monoxide problems…