Risks of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Schools ~ Los Angeles Lawyer Articles

Monday, December 17, 2012

Risks of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Schools

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Doctors and California carbon monoxide poisoning lawyers advise that carbon monoxide detectors be installed not only in homes, but also in public buildings like schools.  That's because children may be at risk of monoxide poisoning, as happened recently at a school in Georgia.  In spite of these risks, few schools have installed these alarms, and only 2 states have made it mandatory to install such alarms in schools.
Only Maryland and Connecticut have laws that require schools to have carbon monoxide alarms installed their classrooms.  This is in spite of the fact that over the past 5 years at least, there have been several incidents in which students have been forced to evacuate classrooms because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.  According to an investigation by USA Today, since 2007 alone, there were at least 19 incidents in which students had to be evacuated from their classrooms because of fears of carbon monoxide poisoning.  These evacuations involved more than 3,000 children.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas, and the fumes may begin to impact students and teachers before people even know what is going on.  By the time people get alerted to the fact that there are toxic fumes in the school building, it may be too late to act. In 2010, according to a report by the National Fire Protection Association, there were 81,100 carbon monoxide poisoning incidents that were reported.  None of these resulted in fires, but 90% of them occurred in homes or apartments. 
According to experts on the subject, every school should have carbon monoxide alarms installed in the hallways and at least near the pool areas.  Preferably, these alarms should also be installed in every classroom. 

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