Boy killed by carbon monoxide while trying to keep warm
Source: us news
Among the deaths blamed on the gusting winter storm that buried parts of the Northeast under 3 feet of snow was an 11-year-old boy in Boston who was overcome by carbon monoxide while keeping warm in the car.
The boy had been helping his father shovel out the car and got cold, NBC affiliate WHDH of Boston reported. The father started the engine, and the boy got inside, a Boston fire official told the station. But the cars exhaust pipe was covered by a nearly 4-foot tall snowbank.
The car filled up with the carbon monoxide gases that werent escaping through the exhaust system, and the boy was overcome, a fire official told WHDH.
The boy's father went into respiratory arrest.
The father started screaming, Hes not breathing, hes not breathing, a neighbor told WHDH. So the father brings the little boy into my hallway and lays him on the ground and then he comes back out and collapses.
Fire officials arrived on the scene to find neighbors performing CPR on the boy. Father and son were transported to the Boston Medical Center, where the boy died. His father was undergoing treatment, WHDH reported.
Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/09/16914027-boy-killed-by-carbon-monoxide-while-trying-to-keep-warm?lite
unbelievably sad...
MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)An adult should know better than this.
Response to MrSlayer (Reply #1)
Ed Suspicious This message was self-deleted by its author.
trailmonkee
(2,681 posts)to remind folks that this can happen.... man do i feel sorry for the father
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)I have never heard of it totally blocking an exhaust pipe. Makes sense though.
LeftInTX
(25,552 posts)Although I'm from Wisconsin, I was not aware of this. It is something that I will remember and pass along.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)need to keep the exhaust pipes completely open. It might seem stupid of the father. Under normal a situation - he probably would have remembered that. But people don't always carefully think things through in the middle of an unpredictable situation. What a terrible tragedy. So sad for the poor little boy who had a whole life waiting for him. No doubt the father will suffer greatly for the rest of his life for this mistake.
nuxvomica
(12,442 posts)When you're tired from shoveling and freezing from the cold, you don't think so well. And that warm car must've been awfully inviting.
This is a sad reminder to listen to your body and think things through when you're out in the cold. And if you're shoveling snow, wear a $20 weightlifting belt. It'll save your back.
NickB79
(19,258 posts)After a big storm, ALWAYS check all your venting pipes around the outside of your house for snow blockages. We had a few huge snowstorms here a couple winters ago, and snowdrifts were blocking the gas venting pipes that run from our water heater and furnace a couple times.
Beacool
(30,251 posts)Most people know about the exhaust pipe issue and they remember it, but most people forget about their home's venting pipes.
Beacool
(30,251 posts)Yesterday I spent 45 minutes digging out the car. When I sat in the car and turned it on for a few minutes I made sure to leave the door open. There was still too much snow surrounding the car and I knew that the exhaust pipe was still covered by it. I clearly remember when some years ago two policemen sitting in their patrol car were overcome by the fumes and died. They apparently hadn't realized when they had parked that they had gotten too close to a snow bank and it had covered their exhaust pipe.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family. I can't even imagine how the father is feeling right now.
Rest in peace.
bucolic_frolic
(43,286 posts)a blocked exhaust pipe would back up gases into the passenger compartment.
I thought the engine would stall.
Learn something new every day. Very sad for those two, just heartbraking.
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)On the silver screen, I believe it just makes the car stall.
Ter
(4,281 posts)Are there any symptoms? I mean, do you start feeling a little faint first? Roughly how long in the car would he have had to been in it?
uppityperson
(115,679 posts)Looks like a couple people died from it so far in this snow storm.
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/02/09/boston-boy-dies-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-after-shoveling-out-from-blizzard/jTgqG3MSPPRMy7CrIB7fbM/story.html
CO binds with hemoglobin which means it takes a bit of time to get out of your system.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/carbon-monoxide/DS00648/DSECTION=symptoms
Dull headache
Weakness
Dizziness
Nausea
Vomiting
Shortness of breath
Confusion
Blurred vision
Loss of consciousnes
daleo
(21,317 posts)If you get rescued, you have one hell of a headache when you come to. It has to do with carbon monoxide displacing oxygen in red blood cells.
That's what I have heard, at any rate.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)It's death by oxygen deprivation. You start to feel tired, but your cognitive abilities also decline rapidly, so you often won't even bother wondering why. Your brain goes into a fog and you lose the motivation to do anything. There have been instances where conscious people stuck in burning buildings have simply sat down to die when an escape was easily accessible. Once the lack of oxygen starts shutting down the brain, our instinctive drive for self preservation goes out the window.
Exultant Democracy
(6,594 posts)I warned him and he said that someone was coming for him. My answer was yeah the grim reaper if you keep your car running.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)a snowbank. Who thinks of getting out and checking the tailpipe? There were four to eight foot drifts all over Eastern Massachusetts, cars covered with deep snow and frigid temps.
There was another young man killed as he sat too long in his running car. Neighbors said he'd been in there a long time...
These both were tragic. Remember to always check on people and tailpipes.
yardwork
(61,703 posts)truthisfreedom
(23,155 posts)Remember this.