Night of the Sirens: Analysis of Carbon Monoxide-Detector Experience in Suburban Chicago,☆☆,

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Abstract

Study Objective: To determine the pattern and environmental causes of carbon monoxide (CO)–detector alarms. Methods: Data including time, location, detector manufacturer, CO measurements in the home, reported illness, cause, and actions taken were collected between July 15, 1994, and January 26, 1995, on all calls to 17 suburban Chicago fire departments for CO-detector alarms. We used univariate time-series analysis involving joint estimation of model parameters and outlier effects to analyze data and compared data on ambient CO levels from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to the number of calls per day. Results: During the study period, 777 calls for sounding CO detectors were made to the fire departments in question. The median number of calls per day was three. Our univariate time series identified 3 days with a significant excess of calls (December 12, 29 calls; December 21, 69; December 22, 128; P<.001). The average ambient CO readings on these days were 0.99, 3.25, and 3.89 ppm, respectively, compared with an overall mean of 0.8 ppm. In-home CO levels among all 828 measurements taken from the 777 domestic calls ranged from 0 to 425 ppm, 0 in 249 (30%), 1 to 10 in 340 (41%), 11 to 50 in 149 (18%), 51 to 100 in 22 (9%), and more than 100 in 11 (1.3%). No measurement was taken in six cases. Cause of alarm was listed as furnace in 25 cases, auto exhaust in 24, stove/oven in 22, poor location of detector in 14, water heater in 11, outside sources in 7, and multiple sources in 7. Other sources accounted for fewer than 1% each. The participating fire departments considered 242 cases (31%) to be false alarms. Cause was not determined in 400 calls (51%). In 37 calls (4.8%), people reported illness. Conclusion: Above-average ambient CO levels coincided with a significant increase in the number of calls and may have contributed to the triggering of CO alarms. [Bizovi KE, Leikin JB, Hryhorczuk DO, Frateschi LJ: Night of the sirens: Analysis of carbon monoxide–detector experience in suburban Chicago. Ann Emerg Med June 1998;31:737-740.]

Section snippets

INTRODUCTION

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the most common cause of acute poisoning deaths in the United States, with about 21% of these deaths considered unintentional.1 The home is a common source of CO exposure. With frequent fatalities due to CO poisoning (as many as 10 fatalities in one exposure) and because of the fact that Illinois is one of the leading states with unintentional CO deaths, in 1994 Chicago became one of the first major metropolitan areas to require residential CO detectors.1, 2 The use of

MATERIALS AND METHODS

When a call for a sounding CO detector was received, fire department personnel went to the home in question to measure the CO in the home. Data including date, time, location of call, manufacturer of detector, CO measurements in home, reports of illness, firefighter assessment of cause, and actions taken were collected between July 15, 1994, and January 26, 1995, on all residential calls to the fire departments for CO-detector alarms. These data were documented, coordinated, and received (using

RESULTS

Seventeen suburban fire departments recorded information on 777 calls for sounding CO detectors in residential homes between July 15, 1994, and January 26, 1995. A total of 828 measurements for CO calls were performed, with some calls involving more than one measurement. In-home CO levels among all calls' measurements ranged from 0 to 425 ppm: 0 in 249 homes (30%), 1 to 10 in 340 (41%), 11 to 50 in 149 (18%), 51 to 100 in 22 (9%), and more than 100 in 11 (1.3%). In six cases, no measurement was

DISCUSSION

CO toxicity is a function not only of concentration but of duration of exposure. Whereas an air concentration of 1,500 ppm is considered to be immediately detrimental to life and health, lower concentrations for longer periods can exert serious toxicity. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established a maximum safe working concentration for CO at 35 ppm for 8 hours, whereas the US EPA has established that residential CO concentrations should not exceed 9 ppm over 8 hours.

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From the Departments of Emergency Medicine, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, and University of Illinois at Chicago; and Toxikon Consortium, Cook County Hospital, Chicago,* Emergency Services, Rush Medical College and Rush Presbyterian–St. Luke's Medical Center, the Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health, University of Illinois at Chicago,§∥ and Toxikon Consortium, Cook County Hospital,II Chicago, IL; and College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL.

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Address for reprints: Jerrold B Leikin, MD, Emergency Services, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, 1753 West Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL 60612, 312-942-4978, Fax 312-421-1832

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