Carbon Monoxide, The Silent Killer.

According to ROSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents)  there are approximately 50 accidental deaths per year in the UK from CO poisoning, and over 1,100 cases of recorded admissions to hospital,  which can often lead to lasting damage.

Many more people are likely to suffer unknowingly from CO poisoning, and the impact on health may well be underestimated and such cases can be caused by faulty or badly-serviced gas appliances and systems.

The reason why carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer is because you can’t see it, hear it, smell it or taste it.

Being made aware of the situation could save your life and therefore knowing what the symptoms are, can make a huge difference.

There are six main symptoms to look out for, which are:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Breathlessness
• Collapse
• Loss of Consciousness.

CO poisoning symptoms are similar to other more common and less fatal things such as flu, tiredness and a viral infection however considering these following items may help to differentiate:

• Your symptoms only occur when you are at home
• Your symptoms disappear or get better when you leave home and come back when you return 
• Others in your household are experiencing symptoms (including your pets) and they appear at a similar time 

What do I do if I experience any of the symptoms?

• Get fresh air immediately. Open doors and windows, turn off gas appliances and leave the house
• See your doctor immediately or go to hospital - let them know that you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning. They can do a blood or breath test to check 
• If you think there is immediate danger, call the Gas Emergency Helpline 
• Get a Gas Safe registered engineer to inspect your gas appliances and flues to see if there is a dangerous problem 

Proactive. Not Reactive.

A simple and effective way to ensure your appliances and property are not at risk from CO poisoning, is to have your gas appliances serviced annually by competent engineer who is registered with Gas Safe Register.  This includes; boilers, gas fired water heaters, space heaters, back boilers & cookers.

If your property has natural gas (NG) liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or Oil fired appliances, ACS are able to provide competitively priced servicing.

All our engineers are Gas Safe registered, and regularly inspected to ensure continued conformity with all their qualifications.