DETECT AND PROTECT

1 Have your appliances maintained regularly and ensure that they are well ventilated. Fuel-burning appliances should be profes- sionally inspected and your chimney cleaned annually.

2

Keep your home free of carbon monoxide by not smoking indoors, keeping the door between the house and the garage closed and never idling vehicles in the garage.

3

Never use gas-powered machines in the garage. Never use a barbecue or portable fuel-burning

camping equipment in enclosed spaces or kerosene or oil space heaters and lamps unless they’re specifically designed for indoor use. Make sure the tailpipe of your car is clear before ignition.

4

Get a carbon monoxide detector! Alarms should be near sleeping areas and on each level of your home. Be sure the alarm has been certified to the Canadian Standard Association (CSA) CAN/CGA 6.19 stan-

dard or the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 2034 standard.

Been exposed to carbon monoxide or has your alarm gone off? Get out of the area and call 911. The fire department can check air qual- ity and look for the source. Get medical atttention if you have symptoms (see above). The treatment is oxygen and, in severe cases, hyperbaric oxygen, which allows more oxygen to be delivered to your body.