A 32-year-old man was cooking with a charcoal grill inside his van at a state park. He died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
A 72-year-old woman and her husband were found dead in their home. They had been cooking with a charcoal grill indoors.
A husband and wife, both 24, were found dead in the bedroom of their home. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. They had been using a hibachi grill to heat the room. Twenty-eight deaths and 300 injuries each year due to carbon monoxide poisoning occur from using charcoal indoors. Many of the victims are minorities.
CO is a colorless and odorless gas that reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen. The effects of carbon monoxide exposure range from headaches and nausea to death. Symptoms of CO poisoning are often misdiagnosed as the flu.
A study published in the journal of the American Medical Association also found that 58 (73 percent) of the victims treated in the Seattle area from 1982 to 1993 for CO poisoning from burning charcoal indoors were minorities. Many of these were Hispanic or Asian immigrants who did not speak English.
Socioeconomic factors played a role in the indoor use of charcoal. For example, the data revealed that charcoal briquets were burned indoors when the electrical power or gas supply to the house was disconnected because of unpaid utility or gas bills. Burning charcoal briquets indoors also was reported to be a common cultural practice among some victims.
In an attempt to reduce these deaths and injuries, CPSC is requiring a new warning label on charcoal packages. The label contains clearer language about the hazard and how to avoid it, as well as a pictogram to warn about the dangers of burning charcoal indoors. While the pictogram is intended to address all users, it may be most helpful in reaching those members of ethnic minorities who do not read English. The new label should be on packages of charcoal no later than late 1997.
Should you find a CO poisoned victim, remove the victim from the environment and into fresh air immediately. Call the emergency medical services (EMS), which will be able to give the victim 100 percent oxygen. Check for breathing and pulse and give CPR if needed.
Alton Thygerson, professor of health sciences at Brigham Young University, is the National Safety Council's first aid and CPR author and technical consultant. For more information, the new National Safety Council First Aid Handbook by Alton Thygerson is available in local bookstores.