Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel a bit of idiot because I didnt know this?

95 replies

OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 31/03/2012 16:49

I was listening to R4 last week and there was a peice on Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
A bereaved mother bravely shared her terrible story of losing her young son.

I knew Carbon Monoxide is leathal, I knew that you should check your boiler and I DO have an alarm.

What struck me about this story was that her poor boy wasnt killed by fumes from her boiler but by her neighbour's faulty boiler.

The fumes had seeped through the brickwork and killed her son.

I am pretty safety conscious. I have lost a child and unfortunately know many other bereaved parents. I have lost 'it wont happen to us' forever.
But it had not crossed my mind that this could happen.

How many of us live next to dodgy rented properties, people who dont bother to get their appliances checked and/or dont have alarms? I live next to a house that is rented to tenants and the owners live in a 'shed' in the garden. They dont look after the main house and their boiler is on the other side of mine.

I know this is a bit of a dodgy AIBU but I was really really struck by this woman's story and I thought it might be worth sharing.

Please get an alarm. They are quite cheap and I got mine from Lloyds Chemist when they were doing a special offer.

OP posts:
Frontpaw · 31/03/2012 18:05

Dear god, puds, how did you get out?

Barbeasty · 31/03/2012 18:29

When we moved into our last house the boiler had full servicing records etc from a Corgi registered engineer.

When we had a service done (thankfully within a couple of weeks of moving in) we discovered that it wasn't even attached to the flue and was pouring out carbon monoxide.

The only reason we weren't all dead is that the boiler was in the atic space of the single story kitchen.

puds11 · 31/03/2012 18:30

well my partner woke in the night with a nose bleed, went downstairs and passed out, luckily he came round and shouted for me so i came downstairs and passed out, luckily i had sent my LO to wait in my bed until we came to get her. When i came round i immediately thought gas, so opened the back door. I still passed out a further 2 times but we all managed to get outside and went to the hospital in an ambulance to be treated for CO poisoning.
I still had the after effects for 2months where i banged my head from passing out.

Frontpaw · 31/03/2012 18:35

Bloody hell! You are so lucky.

fluffywhitekittens · 31/03/2012 18:37

When I was a student many years back now we were being poisoned by leaky, rubbish gas fires. The engineer who came to look at what was causing the problem was appalled so I am aware of the issue but didn't realise that it could come from another house.
Puds, that must have been a truly horrific experience for you all.

puds11 · 31/03/2012 18:37

yep it still hasnt sunk in properly yet, but it became more real when i told people and they burst into tears. Also reminded us do a legal guardian contract with my dad incase anything happend in the future

ratspeaker · 31/03/2012 18:49

Remember it's not just gas boilers that can produce CO but any carbon based fuel that doesn't combust properly
So that's gas hobs and cookers, parrafin stoves, portable gas heaters, coal fires etc
We have a CO alarm in our bedroom as we have a coal fire in there

Sadly there have been a couple of cases of people dying as they have taken BBQ trays inside tents or cabins

ratspeaker · 31/03/2012 18:55

oh and woodburning stoves can produce CO

Personally I think if you have smoke detectors in an area of the house you should have CO alarms as well

I'm seriously thinking about getting a CO alarm to take on holiday with me.
I have one in the camper van.

everlong · 31/03/2012 18:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

crustyonion · 31/03/2012 19:31

I got a free CO detector from the Fire Brigade. They also fitted 4 smoke alarms in the house - again for free. I don't know if this is an initiative only being run by West Yorkshire or if it's nationwide. There was a sad case locally some years ago where a young boy was killed by carbon monoxide coming from the neighbour's property. The story is so like the one heard by the OP, I wonder if it's the same case.

By the way, the lovely fireman who fitted all the alarms advised to put it in the 2nd floor of the house. CO is slightly lighter than air, but more importantly the alarm should be easily heard by the sleeping residents.

AwkwardMary · 31/03/2012 19:41

Thank you for the warning but I take exception to the "dodgy rental" comment. I live in a rental and our home is very well managed by us and our landlord.

TheLittleFriend · 31/03/2012 19:47

well worth a thread, thanks MrsDeV.

We recently have had to call the emergency gas line several times as we've smelt gas in the house, including once at midnight, which was particularly scary. It turns out that the problem was next door (owned my very responsible neighbours who luckily were as keen to get the problem sorted as we were).

It's a shame they don't advertise the alarms more - I think some people don't know about them.

kittyandthefontanelles · 31/03/2012 19:55

Awkwardmary, so do I but there's no need to take exception to the comment. If your house is well managed then it clearly doesn't apply to you. It does happen though. A uni friend and her boyfriend died through just this and the landlord was prosecuted. He was negligent in maintenance and safety standards. Not all landlords go by the book unfortunately.

Blu · 31/03/2012 19:56

You need a CO detector even if you have a well-serviced appliance.
My colleague's parents, and their dog, perished because despite the boiler being in perfect working order, well serviced and propetley positioned, with the vent properly positioned, some freak weather / draft blew the fumes back in.

I called the gas people some years ago because the air just didn't seem right when I came in from work. There was some uncommon probem with our boiler event.

Lozislovely · 31/03/2012 20:15

Ideally you should have a CO detector in every room that has a fuel burning appliance.

They should be mounted on the wall (minimum of 5ft from floor I believe).

Agree that you can't account for neighbours that don't have their appliances checked. I know of a story where an elderly couple died due to fumes seeping under the floorboards from the house next door.

Get an alarm, be aware of the symptoms of CO poisoning and act on them even if they turn out to be false.

If you feel you have any of the symptoms get out of the house immediately. As mentioned in a previous post, you can call the National Gas Emergency Line on 0800 111 999 who will dispatch an engineer FOC to any suspected gas emergency. (they won't fix the issue but will ensure you are safe before they leave, even if that means turning off your boiler etc.) Life isn't worth taking shortcuts.

GrandmasRedCar · 31/03/2012 20:23

I was totally unaware until I heard of a lady who had a late mc and she and her young daughter became critically Ill when their neighbours boiler poisoned them. I got an alarm that day and I am so grateful to her for sharing her story.

wasabipeanut · 31/03/2012 20:26

We have a few CM alarms dotted round - one in the kitchen next to the boiler and a couple on the landing just in case. I'm a bit wary of it since having a dodgy boiler diagnosed in equally dodgy rented craphole as a student.

However i had no idea that it could seep through walls. My heart goes out the poor woman in the R4 program and her family. Just awful. Nothing I type looks right so I'm just going to stop.

tangledupinblue2 · 31/03/2012 20:26

Thanks MrsDeVere and Goblers Smile

Have just bought that one from amazon.

Scary stuff

Chubfuddler · 31/03/2012 20:33

I had no idea this could happen, but thank god I live in a detached house. We are moving soon and I will be installing a co alarm immediately.

My midwife told me one patient had a slow co leak in her house identified by the breath test they now do at the booking in appointment.

AwkwardMary · 31/03/2012 20:36

Kitty well then why did the OP not say "Badly managed households" instead of "Dodgy rentals" as though tarring renters with the same brush.

It's not on and smacks of a bad attitude towards people with a lower income in general. Oh there must be MORE bad rental homes than owned because if you have a low income you're feckless.

Chubfuddler · 31/03/2012 20:38

I don't think it's a comment on renters so much as on landlords.

Thisisformatilda · 31/03/2012 20:43

Scary stuff!
Thanks for this thread, I've just ordered one of gobblers detectors

Original poster
OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 31/03/2012 20:43

FFS Mary give a rest. Dodgy rentals is clearly about badly let properties not people renting. WTF would I blame people renting a house more than someone who owned one?

This thread isnt about you btw. Its about people not having to walk in and find their child dead in their bed.

As for the rest of your post. How idiotic. I would put the little money I have on me being on a lower income than you. You really are silly and a bit self centered if that is all you could take from this thread.

OP posts:
holyShmoley · 31/03/2012 20:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.