RESIDENTS in Redditch are warned of a silent killer, ahead of the launch of a national Carbon Monoxide (CO) awareness campaign called Project SHOUT, launching this month.
Project SHOUT aims to raise awareness of the life threatening dangers of carbon monoxide and the simple solution that could save hundreds of lives.
You can’t see, smell or taste Carbon Monoxide so it’s very hard to identify and is often mistaken for other things such as food poisoning or flu as the symptoms are very similar.
Supporting the campaign are two inspirational mums who have both come head on with the deadly gas, Stacey Rodgers and Louise Aspinall.
Louise and her family had a lucky escape when a Carbon Monoxide leak in their home was detected by a simple alarm which, had they not had in the kitchen, could have seriously injured them, or even been fatal.
Stacey sadly lost her son Dominic at the hands of the deadly gas after suffering from Carbon Monoxide poisoning when their neighbour’s faulty boiler leaked through to Dominic’s bedroom, killing him as he slept.
They are both supporting the campaign because one person dies every week in the UK from Carbon Monoxide poisoning which can be produced from faulty fuel-burning appliances, including your boiler, fireplace, cooker, hob, barbecue or even a clogged chimney.
Stacey said: “At the time Dominic died I didn’t know what carbon monoxide was or even know there were CO alarms available. If Project SHOUT can give people that awareness and knowledge then hopefully it can save someone in your family.
“I think Project SHOUT is an absolutely brilliant project, it’s going to get a lot of awareness out there and hopefully people will learn about carbon monoxide and go and buy an alarm.”
Louise said: “I am really happy to be involved in Project SHOUT, it’s a brilliant awareness campaign which is desperately needed.
“My first instinct was that my boiler had gone wrong because it was pretty much new, top of the range and what I believed to be very efficient. So we’re very lucky that we had that alarm, which has saved our lives.”
Project Shout is being supported by; the Fire and Rescue Service, many leading retailers such as B&Q and Amazon, energy suppliers such as British Gas and leading medical expert Dr Sarah Jarvis.
