Snow Accumulation Can Block Home Heating Vents and Vehicle Exhausts

Check your carbon monoxide (CO) detectors to make sure the batteries and the units are working. CO poisoning is serious and potentially deadly. Carbon monoxide gas can build up quickly poisoning people and pets. The risk of poisoning greatly increases during and after intense winter storms.

If you suspect CO poisoning, handle it as a medical emergency. Call the NJ Poison Control Center a 1-800-222-1222. If someone is not breathing, hard to wake up, or having a seizure, call 9-1-1.

The poison control center's medical staff is available 24/7 to answer calls for help or information - services are free and confidential.

Each year, New Jersey residents are hospitalized and some die from exposure to carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas produced by generators, stoves, furnaces and other fuel burning appliances/equipment. This gas gives no warning, meaning you can’t see it, smell it, hear it, or taste it. It is impossible to detect if you do not have working carbon monoxide detectors inside your living spaces.

“To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, keep gas generators outdoors more than 20 feet away, do not idle your car in the garage even with the garage door open, clear snow away from heating system and appliance vents, intakes, and exhausts,” says says Bruce Ruck, managing director of the New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “It is unsafe to warm up your car without first clearing the snow around the tailpipe/exhaust.”

If the power is out and you need to charge your phone, pull your vehicle completely out of the garage with the tailpipe/exhaust facing away from the home. Dangerous levels of CO can build up quickly in your home, apartment, or vehicle, poisoning those inside including pets.

Recognize the signs and symptoms of CO poisoning and to act quickly! Early symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to symptoms of the common cold, flu, strep throat, and COVID-19 (headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion).

Stopping carbon monoxide gas from building up inside your living space or car is the best way to prevent dangerous health effects.

If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, get help immediately:

1. If someone is unconscious or unresponsive, get them out of the house and call 9-1-1 immediately.
2. Leave the house or building right away. Do not waste time opening windows. This will delay your escape and cause you to breathe in even more dangerous fumes.
3. Contact your local fire department or energy provider.
4. Call the NJ Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 for immediate treatment advice. Do not waste time looking for information on the internet about carbon monoxide poisoning. Call the poison center for fast, free and accurate information.

Safety tips to help reduce your risk of carbon monoxide exposure during snow storms:

Outdoors

• Gas generators should only be used outside. Keep portable generators more than 20 feet from both your home and your neighbors’ homes. This includes keeping generators away from doors, windows, and vents. Generator Safety Tips
• Clear snow blocking/around your heating system, dryer, and other appliance vents, intakes, and exhausts.
• Make sure flues are open before starting a fire in your fireplace.
• Use pressure washers, grills, camp stoves, or other gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning devices outdoors only. It is never safe to use them inside your home, basement, garage, carport, camper, boat cabin, or tent.
• Do not idle a car in a snowbank. If stuck in the snow, make sure to clear the tailpipe and surrounding area to prevent exhaust fumes from entering the car.

Indoors

• Carbon monoxide detectors should be on every level of your home, including near sleeping areas.
• Check to make sure your CO detectors are working. If detectors are old or not working properly, replace them.
• Keeping a car running in a garage is extremely dangerous. Carbon monoxide gas can quickly build up inside the garage even with the garage door open.
• You must not use your stove or oven to heat your living space. Doing so can cause dangerous levels of carbon monoxide gas to build up inside your home or apartment.
• Be careful with “remote start” engines which may turn on without you knowing it.

If you think someone was exposed to carbon monoxide, contact your local poison control center immediately. Medical specialists are available to provide information, answer questions, and provide emergency support 24 hours a day. Anyone can call for medical help – children, teens, and adults. Poison control centers are a medical resource for both the public and healthcare providers.

Call the NJ Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 or Chat Here

If someone is not breathing, hard to wake up, or having a seizure, call 9-1-1

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Media contacts only: Alicia Gambino (gambinaa@njms.rutgers.edu), New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School