CO Detector law

[SFDredhat126]

Illinois CO detector law, HB5284

Has the new CO detector law had any effect on your department to this point?

We have had increased CO responses, and many non-emergent phone calls to the firehouse with questions.

Additionally, can anyone tell me why the standard for distance from a bedroom is 15 feet?

[DjInferno]

We've seen a slight increase in the CO calls..but not anything extreme. I wonder how many people even know about the new law?

I've always kind of wondered about the 15 feet thing too...I did some research and came up with nothing other than almost all CO laws other places say the same thing.

DJ

[80FIRE]

Additionally, can anyone tell me why the standard for distance from a bedroom is 15 feet?

My guess would be because the average distance between bed rooms is 16 feet and everyone will need to buy two of them.

This is just a guess but it may be that 15 feet is the furthest average distance that most alarms will meet the minimum required sound levels to wake a person.

[ChiefReason]

Ah, but the distance between our two bedrooms is 30 feet. Therefore, we have one detector at a 15 foot center to the two!
I did the math.
CR

[Firefighter2160]

We have not seen a increase yet...I am sure every one will see some sort of increase because more times than not the CO calls are false alarms.......that is IF people actually take the law seriously......I mean who is going to police it?

[S8ER95Z]

Good question.. I don't think it will be policed but new homes will probably end up with them built in. Whats this distance law? Needs to be 15 ft from the bedroom or at max from the bedroom?

Mine is like 5 feet from the bedroom (out in the living room)...

[ziggy171]

I know we will be posting and handing out flyers telling people about the new law, just to get the word out better in the community.

[SFDredhat126]

I have noticed the retailers are taking advantage. They are the first thing you see walking into the door of Wal-Mart, Sam's, and Target.

[bkmcse]

Does anyone have a SOP on how the respond to a call of the CO detector going off? How do you respond? What do you do when you get there? We haven't had any calls yet, but we are working on what our policy will be. Any info would be appreciated.

[ChiefReason]

Does anyone have a SOP on how the respond to a call of the CO detector going off? How do you respond? What do you do when you get there? We haven't had any calls yet, but we are working on what our policy will be. Any info would be appreciated.

Full gear including SCBA, gas monitor. Make sure everyone is out of the building. If you get a positive reading on the monitor, set up for ventilation and provide medical support for the victims.
Determine the source of the CO and call in the appropriate agency to correct.
Do not turn the building over to the occupants until it has been determined that it is safe to do so.
CR

[jboczek]

Off the top of my head:
Over 35ppm at the door, SCBA before entering and any time CO level goes over 35, SCBA before doing anything else. Try to find the source, shut it off, advise the folks to get it fixed before turning the culprit back on. If anybody has symptoms, we call ambulance for them and do what we can as First Responders. We do not try to fix anything, only vent the building, but we will turn off a faulty appliance and allow people back in as soon as levels are ventilated to acceptable level - I think under 10 ppm.

[bkmcse]

Thanks for your replies. They bring up another question that has been discussed. When your gas meter says it is ok and you let the resident go back in, how much liability is there if there is still a problem? That seems to be a concern of some in our department. There has also been a qestion of if we are required to respond at all. Do we need to purchase a gas meter to determine levels? I agree with the response it seems everyone else does, but I am trying to get some information to set our policy.

[ziggy171]

Just another addition...I know of fire depts around us that at every single call they check for a CO and smoke detector and if it's working and document their findings.

[lauraboczek]

I don't think it will be policed but new homes will probably end up with them built in.

I'm in the insurance biz, and as far as I know, many companies will not write new insurance policies on homes that don't have them. I don't think this stands for existing business, but you can be dropped if you don't have one at a periodic home inspection, and won't be written for new business without them. Also, hubby's a contractor and he heard some places are starting to write them into building codes this year. So it will be policed, kinda. Like a coworker said..."What are they gonna do, go door to door?" Sounds like a fun job for me to have! I could do that all day.

[jboczek]

Thanks for your replies. They bring up another question that has been discussed. When your gas meter says it is ok and you let the resident go back in, how much liability is there if there is still a problem? That seems to be a concern of some in our department. There has also been a qestion of if we are required to respond at all. Do we need to purchase a gas meter to determine levels? I agree with the response it seems everyone else does, but I am trying to get some information to set our policy.

The concern of liability is something we discussed at a meeting the other night. Some departments quit running CO calls all together, others still run them but make the owner sign a paper that says what was found, etc. Of course, the paper doesn't mean anything to a lawyer. We'll keep running them but are working on some changes in our sog. So far we haven't had any arguments from people when we told them to get something fixed before it gets turned back on. We do anticipate more calls with the new law. We'll see what happens.