5 women escape gas leak

By Pat Flynn

Monday, May 16, 2011

FIVE elderly women had a lucky escape yesterday after they were overcome by carbon monoxide while enjoying afternoon tea.

 

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kfojeygbsney/rss2/#ixzz1MVEBT2oN

Four of the friends were being treated in hospital last night following the incident, which happened at about 6.30pm, at the house on Railway Road in the west Clare town of Kilkee. 

The five local women, who meet every week, had been enjoying tea in the house when one complained of feeling unwell and went home. 

Soon afterwards, her husband became concerned about her and called a doctor. The doctor established that the woman was suffering the effects of what he believed to be carbon monoxide poisoning and asked where she had been. 

Her husband went to the house where he discovered the woman’s four friends in different states of consciousness and quickly raised the alarm. It is believed some of the women were found unconscious on the floor. 

He called the emergency services, reporting that he could smell gas in the area. He helped the women from the building and remained with them until emergency crews arrived. 

Ambulances from Kilrush and Ennis, a rapid response advanced paramedic unit from Ennis and a local doctor rushed to the scene. Gardaí cordoned off the area while fire crews searched the house for the source of the leak. They suspected the gas was leaking from a bulk tank at the rear of the house. 

However, it is also understood that a chimney in the house had become blocked by a bird nest, preventing fumes from escaping. 

Medics treated the women at the scene before four of them were taken to Ennis General Hospital. It is not thought that any of the women are seriously ill but they were being assessed last night. The woman who first became ill was treated at home by her doctor. 

Fire crews remained at the scene for several hours until technicians checked the gas tank and appliances. Fire personnel also vented the house to ensure all traces of the carbon monoxide had been cleared.

 

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, May 16, 2011

NEWS RELEASE

 

HANDS OFF THOSE BATTERIES!

EI ELECTRONIC CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM WITH TAMPER PROOF BATTERY

 

 

A sophisticated yet highly affordable new Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarm from Ei Electronics is now available with a sealed in Lithium battery.  The combination of tamper proof battery unit and inability to use it in other common household devices directly addresses the problem of possible battery removal by the resident.

 

But it's not just the Lithium battery that sets this alarm apart; the quality of the design and build combined with the alarm's functionality are key to its success, as is the value price point which Ei Electronics is confident will encourage a far wider adoption of CO alarms than ever before.  Furthermore, being battery powered, the new CO alarm can be installed by heating and ventilation installers, plumbers, builders, etc. - not just electricians.

 

As with all Ei Electronics CO alarms, the new Lithium battery powered model uses a sophisticated, proven CO sensor pre-calibrated and tested in CO gas to ensure accuracy.

 

When it detects dangerous levels of CO the alarm sounds and the red warning alarm light flashes at a rate relevant to the CO level detected.  Prior to this, at low levels of CO, a pre-alarm light is activated for early warning.  If CO is detected when the resident is out, a memory feature incorporated into the alarm will record any readings which can be interrogated by the user.

 

The alarm can be readily tested by residents using the large clear Test button.

 

Although safety and reliability are the key considerations for this new alarm, Ei Electronics has also ensured the unit has the looks to match.  The alarm itself is compact (measuring just 120mm x 105mm x 45mm), unobtrusive and sleek, so is only noticeable when you need it to be, i.e. when the alarm sounds.  It can be fixed to the wall or ceiling using a simple twist on mounting base which has a variety of fixing options.

 

A completely unique feature of the new alarm is its ability to be wirelessly interconnected to other Ei Electronics Fire and CO alarms through the simple addition of a RadioLINK plug-in module.  RadioLINK uses sophisticated RF technology, allowing alarms interconnected on the system to all sound when any of them goes into alarm; in this way, the alarm is heard throughout a property, even if the resident is asleep behind a closed door.  Previously the only way to interconnect such alarms was through hard wiring, which is costly, time consuming and, assuming the cable isn't run through ugly trunking, requires redecoration work.

 

When interlinking CO and Fire alarms on the same system, an Ei Electronics Alarm Control Switch should be used to identify the source of the alarm (Smoke or CO).  This will ensure the correct action is taken by the user.

 

Kitemarked to BS EN 50291, the new battery powered CO alarm from Ei Electronics comes complete with a five year guarantee.  In addition to this standard model, a premium model with digital display and RadioLINK Professional model are also available, along with a range of mains powered CO alarms.

 

All Ei Electronics alarms are designed and built in Europe specifically to meet European standards and regulations.

For more information please go to www.eielectronics.com or contact Ei Electronics on +353 61 471277 or sales@eielectronics.ie

 

Ei Electronics (Aico Ltd.) Multi-Sensor wins best new product award 15 November 2010

Click on Lonk to read more

http://www.info4fire.com/main-content/full/aico-multi-sensor-wins-best-new-product-award

 

The Irish Times - Tuesday, November 23, 2010

TOM SHIEL in Castlebar

A MAN whose 20-year-old son died in bed on Christmas morning 2008 after inhaling gas central heating emissions has called on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to make carbon monoxide alarms compulsory in all new homes.

Cathal Hughes, a businessman based in Westport, Co Mayo, told an inquest in Castlebar his son Padraig would still be alive if his gas provider had not withheld information on the availability of such alarms.

“I never knew such an alarm existed,” Mr Hughes said in a statement which was read to the inquest by his legal representative, Eoin Garavan.

Padraig Hughes was found dead in bed at about 9.30am on December 25th, 2008. His twin sister, Emma, who later made a full recovery, was unconscious in bed in an adjacent room.

Yesterday’s inquest, which was conducted by the coroner for south Mayo, John O’Dwyer, heard carbon monoxide had entered both bedrooms through a fractured flue pipe while the Hughes family were asleep at their home at Rosbeg, Westport.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Mr Garavan read the statement by the victim’s father, in which he stated that in 20 years of receiving supplies from his gas provider he had never once received literature about the availability of carbon monoxide alarms.

He continued: “Contrast this with how British Gas – the biggest provider of carbon monoxide alarms in Britain – operates.

“For gas companies to withhold safety information on such an important issue reflects badly on the people who run these companies. My son would be alive today if this information was not withheld.

“There is no regulation in relation to gas installations in Ireland. How many people have to die before the Minister for the Environment regulates and in particular makes it a regulation that these alarms are installed in all new homes?”

Mr Hughes warned: “The issue will not be going away.

“People should be made aware of the safety issues. Withholding safety information is not an option.

“It is time the Minister and the department started to regulate on gas installation. No other family should have to go through what we experienced on Christmas morning, 2008.”

Mr Hughes was also critical of the fact that his call to the 999 emergency number was not answered after he “let the phone ring for an eternity”.

He described this as “both appalling and totally unacceptable”, and demanded an overhaul of the service.

The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.

 

 The Mayo News Tuesday, 23 November 2010 12:07

Calls for compulsory carbon monoxide alarms after tragic death


Father describes ‘living nightmare’ after losing son to poisonous gas

Anton McNulty

‘A LIVING nightmare’ was how the father of a 20-year-old Westport man, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Christmas morning, described the events of finding his son and daughter unconscious in their beds. He called for measures to ensure that no family goes through what they have experienced.
Padraig Hughes of Bellevue, Rosbeg, Westport died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Christmas Day 2008 when a build-up of gas in the flue of the gas boiler caused an explosion and the release of gas. Mr Hughes’ bedroom was directly above the boiler and he inhaled the poisonous gases while asleep. His twin sister, Emma who was sleeping in the adjacent bedroom also inhaled some of the poisonous gases but survived the incident.
Following the inquest into Mr Hughes’ death, which recorded a verdict of accidental death, his father, Cathal Hughes called for greater regulation regarding the installation of carbon monoxide alarms. Speaking through his legal representative, Eoin Garavan, BL, he said a carbon monoxide alarm would have saved his son.
“I now realise that only one thing could have saved Padraig’s life that morning, when the gas boiler blew while he was asleep. Namely the carbon monoxide alarm. It would have detected the carbon monoxide and woken our household. I never knew such an alarm existed. In twenty years of receiving gas supplies from my gas provider, never once did they send literature about this. Contrast this to how British Gas operates in Britain - they are the biggest providers of carbon monoxide alarms in Britain. For gas companies to withhold safety information on such an important issue reflects badly on the people who run these companies. My son would be alive today if this information was not withheld.

No regulation
“There is no regulation to gas installations in Ireland. How many people have to die before the Minister for the Environment makes it a regulation that these alarms are installed in new homes. This issue is not going away. It is time the Minister and the Department started to regulate on gas installation. No family should ever have to go through what we experienced on Christmas morning 2008,” he said.
Earlier Mr Hughes had told the inquest that on Christmas morning he went wake up his daughter Emma at 10.15am but she did not respond and he realised there was a problem. He went to wake Padraig but he never moved when he shook him and he knew there was a serious problem. He called his two other sons Cathal and Conor who smelled the gas and they called the emergency services.
While both were unconscious, Padraig was not breathing and both were give CPR before being transferred to Mayo General Hospital. Padraig was taken to the emergency room but the staff told Cathal Hughes that he was not responsive and he died at 12.16pm. The inquest heard Emma Hughes recovered consciousness that morning.
Following the incident, an investigation into the death was undertaken by the Gardaí who discovered that the flue in the gas boiler had come apart in five joints. Sergeant Eamon Breslin said the boiler was taken apart and reassembled in Castlebar Garda Station where it was tested. When it was started it failed to ignite before the flue section came apart.
Dr Mark Jordan, a consultant forensic engineer, carried out an investigation and found that an electrical fault failed to ignite the gas when the boil came on in the morning. The gas was released into the flue pipe and after a dwell period of approximately 90 seconds the ignition process was automatically restarted. He said the control system on the boiler allows this to occur up to four times before there is a complete shutdown of the gas delivery system.
However on the second or third attempt, the gas and air fixture in the flue ignited causing a small explosion in the flue pipe. The sectional flue pipe installed was incapable of containing the explosion and this allowed the gases to escape. The gases entered the ceiling space of the boiler room through multiple openings and into Mr Hughes’ room.
Dr Jordan concluded that despite both the boiler and flue appearing to have relevant certification, it was his opinion that there are issues regarding the type of flue supplied with the boiler, as well as issues with the design of the boiler.
Dr Fadel Bennani, who performed the post mortem explained that carbon monoxide is a ‘silent killer’ and the level of carbon monoxide found in Mr Hughes was very high. He said the cause of death was asphyxia due to acute carbon-monoxide inhalation.
Mr John O’Dwyer, Coroner for south Mayo said this was an utter tragedy for the Hughes family and extended his sympathy to the family. Superintendent Willie Keavaney also expressed his sympathy to the Hughes family and hoped that in time they will come to terms with their loss.

 

 The Mayo News Tuesday, 12 May 2009 10:05

 TRAGIC FIND Garda’, Firemen, and locals at the Carey on Monday, May 4. Pic: Keith Heneghan/Phocus

Couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning


Inquest hears tragic evidence from relative who found couple in Barnatra house

THE inquest into the death of the couple who were found dead after a house fire at their home in Muings, Barnatra was adjourned last week to facilitate ongoing garda investigations. An open verdict was recorded until a conclusion to the inquiry is reached but foul play has been ruled out as a cause of the tragic deaths.
The bodies of husband and wife, Stephen and Josephine (Josie) Carey were found in their detached home in Muings on Bank Holiday Monday, May 4 last.
A special sitting of the Coroner’s Court was held in Crossmolina last Thursday in order to facilitate repatriation of remains to England, where the Erris natives had spent much of their lives. Acting coroner for north Mayo, Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald, accepted an application by Superintendent Michael Larkin to adjourn the inquest but, as the cause of death was determined as carbon monoxide poisoning in both cases, she recorded an open verdict in the case.
Witness, Martin Cuffe of Glencullen Lower, Bangor Erris, told the inquest he was related to the Careys through marriage.
He said he and his wife had been socialising in the West End Bar in Bangor Erris on Sunday, May 3 with Stephen and Josephine Carey after closing the family-run restaurant, where Josephine was an employee.
Mr Cuffe said he and his wife left the pub no later than 10pm to go home, while the Careys remained there. On Monday morning, he attempted to make contact with the couple several times and at 1pm drove to their home.
After receiving no response at the door, he looked in the letterbox and saw evidence of smoke damage inside the building. He then travelled to the neighbouring house, Lally’s, to see if the couple were there, fearing they had left the house during a fire overnight. On realising ‘something was very wrong’, he returned to the house and broke a window to gain entry. He subsequently saw the body of Stephen Carey lying in the hallway and his wife Josephine against the couch in the sitting room.
The last person to see the couple alive, Ann O’Boyle, had been helping out in the West End Bar that night. She drove the couple home and assisted them into the house. She said she linked Stephen into the house as his wife informed her he had a ‘bad leg’ – his foot had been amputated from the ankle and he had a fit-in in place.
She said Stephen Carey fell and they helped him back up onto the couch in the sitting room.
Garda Sean McHale entered the house after 2pm and said there was extensive smoke damage to the house with every wall in the detached home blackened from waist-level to the ceiling.
In his post-mortem report, Pathologist, Dr Fadel  Bennani, told the Coroner the bodies of both Stephen and Josephine Carey were unremarkable, except for carbon dust on the faces. He noted there was no evidence of injury on either party but both were pink in colour, indicating carbon monoxide poisoning.
Further examination revealed that carbon monoxide levels in both were extremely high at 70 per cent each. The Pathologist described this as ‘lethal’ as death can occur at ‘anything over 40 per cent’ and said that ‘many scenarios’ could have occurred.
“Carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and tasteless and there could be a lot of speculation as to what happened. They may have lost consciousness within half an hour,” he said.
Detective Sgt Eamon Breslin, of the Scenes of Crime Unit, said inquiries were ongoing but the gardaí carried out a full inspection of the scene on May 4. He said the fire occurred in the bedroom, and was concentrated at the left hand side of the bed in an area of eight to nine feet. A cable was plugged into a three pin socket above the bed and after further examination an apparatus found on the bed was found to be a hair dryer. There was evidence that the carpet in the area had melted rather than burned. During a subsequent visit with an electrician the central ceiling light fitting was examined as it was directly above the bed and the light switch had been left in the on position.
Following this the ESB disconnected the electricity supply as it was deemed to be unsafe.
During the examination of the clothing of Josephine Carey, a packet of cigarettes and lighter was recovered from her jacket pocket.
Coroner, Dr Fitzgerald, agreed to adjourn the inquest but said ‘it is very important that we get to the bottom of this. It is a public safety issue.’
“Carbon monoxide is something we are getting to know about more and more. In this case, it was a completely lethal and unrecoverable. The only consolation is the Careys did not suffer this knowingly,” she said.
The inquest was adjourned pending further garda investigations in a bid to establish the cause of the fire.

Report Reveals Disregard of Warning Notices and Lack of

Servicing to Be Significant Causes of

Carbon Monoxide Incidents

Mon, 15/11/2010 - 00:01

Gas Safety Trust Releases key findings from the 2009/10 Carbon Monoxide Incident Report for CO Awareness Week

Two of the four deaths caused by Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning incidents involving domestic gas boilers and heaters, could have been avoided if warning notices left by gas operatives had not been ignored, reports the Gas Safety Trust. This and other key findings are highlighted in the Trust’s Carbon Monoxide Incident Report for 2009/10, which provides the definitive annual statistics for all those involved with CO awareness.

“Although we don’t know why the warning notices were ignored, they are clearly not a strong enough deterrent in some cases and a more effective course of action needs to be agreed to educate and protect the consumer,” commented Nigel Dumbrell, Gas Safety Trust. “In response to this finding we recommend that the current warning notice classification scheme is reviewed.”

The report, which analyses the formal investigations of domestic CO incidents involving mains natural gas in Great Britain, also identifies a lack of servicing as the most common cause of incidents. Another factor influencing this year’s figures is that 43% of the appliances involved in the 56 reported incidents, had received a working visit within 12 months of the incident taking place.

“With budgets and purse strings being tightened across the board, the regular servicing of gas appliances must remain a priority for landlords and homeowners,” explains Dumbrell. “I’m sure stakeholder organisations such as the Gas Safe Register will be working hard to promote key safety messages to consumers and also ensure that frontline gas installers and engineers are playing their part in terms of safe installations and maintenance.”

The 14th annual CO incident report, compiled from information supplied via Downstream Incident Data Report (DIDR) forms completed and submitted by investigators at British Gas, CORGI Services and Gas Safe Register on behalf of the Gas Industry and in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reviews incidents relating to mains natural gas and piped LPG.

Over the reporting period, 1st July 2009 to 30th June 2010, 4 deaths and 115 casualties in 56 incidents were confirmed to be due to CO poisoning, linked to mains natural gas. One LPG linked incident involving 2 casualties was reported.

Compared to the 08/09 analysis, the number of fatalities has dropped dramatically from 17 to 4, however, the overall incident figure is the better barometer, suggests Dumbrell. “The number of people involved with the incidents can change according to who was in the house at the time, so tracking the number of incidents provides a far better benchmark for the industry and policy makers.”

Although the number of incidents remains relatively flat 56 v 57, they are significantly higher than the previous seven years. The report suggests that this may be due in part to particularly colder winters but further analysis would be required to confirm this trend.

On a more positive note the report highlights data that may evidence the role and greater use of CO alarms in the home. For instance, overall incident casualties seem to be of a less severe nature. Also, a number of instances were reported by the emergency response provider, but did not qualify for an investigation, where a CO alarm activated and alerted occupants to the onset of danger.

The Carbon Monoxide Incident Report 2009/10 will be available for download from the Gas Safety Trust’s website. To register your interest in receiving the report, please visit http://www.gas-safety-trust.org.uk/register-co-report

-ends –

About The Gas Safety Trust

The Gas Safety Trust, established in 2005 as a registered charitable body, has become the UK’s leading gas safety charity with the key objectives of further improving gas safety for the public and industry throughout the United Kingdom and reducing the incidents of death and serious injury from carbon monoxide exposure.

Media Enquiries

For further information, please contact:

Hannah Aspey, Energy PR, 01993 823011 hannah@energypr.co.uk

Nigel Dumbrell, Gas Safety Trust, 01256 548 016 / 07825 94329