Six people are likely to die from carbon monoxide poisoning in Ireland over the next 12 months, campaigners say.
A leak of the gas can kill a person within three minutes, yet hundreds of thousands of people are not taking the simplest steps to keep themselves safe.
About 750,00 Irish homes have not installed a carbon monoxide alarm, and 25 per cent of those with one have not tested it for a year.
More than 400,000 have blocked vents to keep heat in and draughts out, and only two-thirds of those with a boiler had it serviced in the past year.
Ambassadors
An alarm might have saved Christopher “Tiffer” Morris. The son of leading h racehorse trainer Michael “Mouse” Morris died in June 2015 as a result of carbon monoxide while travelling in
Argentina
.
Some 18 months after his death, his brother Jamie and his father have become ambassadors for Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week in the hope of making people aware of the dangers of the gas.
“We never thought about it before Tiffer went travelling,” he said. “The risk never even crossed our minds and that is despite the fact that a boy in our school died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
“I think people are quite good when it comes to smoke alarms, but it is a different story when it comes to carbon monoxide. This is despite the fact that the alarm is the only defence you have against a leak.
“You can’t see it, you can’t smell it, you can’t hear it or taste it. The alarm is your only line of defence, and we need to explain that to people.
“We need them to understand that it can come from so many different sources, and it can come from new boilers as well as old ones if they have not been fitted properly.”
Tragedy
Minister for the Environment
Denis Naughten
said: “Carbon monoxide has caused tragedy in many people’s lives, and I would encourage everyone to take the necessary precautions and simple preventative measures to protect against the silent killer, especially coming into the winter when the use of heating appliances increases.”
Rory Cowan, star of Mrs Brown's Boys, agreed to be an ambassador for the campaign after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning himself.
“I was feeling tired and was suffering from unusual bouts of headaches over a period of time. A friend of mine insisted I ring the gas company’s emergency line. They sent a specialist out who then discovered there were toxic levels of carbon monoxide in my house and I was being slowly poisoned.”
