"Carbon Monoxide Detector"

Published on: August 28, 2024

Broward County Schools Superintendent Calls for Installation of Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Following at least two gas-related incidents at Broward County schools in as many weeks, the district’s superintendent called for carbon monoxide detectors to be installed at every campus.

“We also discovered that we don’t have carbon monoxide detectors in our kitchens and in our cafeterias,” Superintendent Howard Hepburn told local news reporters Tuesday.

The call for the installation of detectors comes after Cypress Bay High School was evacuated for a carbon monoxide leak in the school’s cafeteria that caused an evacuation and the hospitalization of at least five people Friday. None of the five people who required medical attention were students, the school district previously told local news outlets.

Published on: August 26, 2024

Broward School Cafeteria Evacuated, Several People Hospitalized Following Possible Carbon Monoxide Leak.

By Leesfield & Partners

An entire school cafeteria was evacuated from a Broward County High School Friday morning for a possible carbon monoxide leak, officials said.

Five people were hospitalized and said they experienced symptoms of lightheadedness, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. None of the people who were taken to the hospital were students.

The issue began around 10:30 a.m. and emergency responders are checking the school’s carbon monoxide levels. While school officials said in a statement that the leak was “contained,” students were dismissed from classes early.

Published on: June 25, 2024

Consumer Product Safety Commission urges consumers to steer clear of these carbon monoxide detectors. What’s wrong with the product?

By Leesfield & Partners

In a statement released late last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission urged buyers to avoid a specific company’s carbon monoxide detectors and replace it immediately.

Carbon monoxide detectors have the capacity to prevent about 200 deaths of accidental exposure a year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

With regular episodes of exposure to the lethal gas dominating headlines including the hospitalization of over a dozen Miami condo residents earlier this month, the use of these life-saving detectors has never been more important. However, some companies making these essential devices should be avoided.

Published on: June 11, 2024

Over 20 people hospitalized over the weekend in Bridgeport, Connecticut for carbon monoxide poisoning. How to keep your home safe.

By Leesfield & Partners

On the heels of over a dozen Miami condo residents being taken to the hospital for carbon monoxide injuries after a gas leak in the building, residents in Bridgeport, Connecticut suffered through a similar ordeal.

Firefighters and other emergency personnel were called out to the building housing several families and other individuals just around 3 a.m. Saturday after one of the building’s tenants called 911 explaining that they felt sick, according to local reporting. A recent bus fire nearby had cut off power to the building for days and firefighters told local news outlets that they found a generator running in the building’s basement, causing the gas to build up. These appliances are never to be used in enclosed spaces as they release carbon monoxide into the air.

There were no carbon monoxide detectors in the building at the time, meaning that the outcome for the families and tenants living there could easily have been very different had that first person feeling ill not called for emergency services, Bridgeport Fire Inspector Robert Lopez told reporters.

Published on: June 4, 2024

Dozens of Miami condo residents hospitalized Tuesday after possible carbon monoxide leak. How often does this happen?

By Leesfield & Partners

About 60 people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and 22 were taken to the hospital after a possible leak Tuesday at a Miami condominium.

The possible leak was reported just before 5 a.m. at the Hemingway Villa Condominiums in West Miami-Dade, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. By 7 a.m. Tuesday, emergency responders were still searching for the leak.

Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday.

Published on: May 22, 2024

Airbnb CEO talks difficulties of implementing carbon monoxide initiative in interview with NBC. How many people die needlessly from carbon monoxide poisoning?

By Leesfield & Partners

Nearly a decade after promising all properties listed on its platform would have detectors to safeguard guests from carbon monoxide poisoning, Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky, called the task “very hard.”

The comment was made in a recent interview Chesky had with NBC discussing difficulties that the company has faced.

“It’s really hard to mandate things in 220 countries and regions and cities all over the world,” Chesky said in the interview. “And then if you mandate something, you have to have a mechanism to verify that it happens.”

Published on: June 16, 2023

Country’s Leading Carbon Monoxide Law firm Secures Eight-Figure Settlement

By Leesfield & Partners

Leesfield & Partners recently represented a couple exposed to carbon monoxide while on vacation in a foreign country. Despite numerous legal obstacles, an eight-figure settlement was secured in less than nine months. This is the latest of several CO exposure cases this firm has handled recently, an area of personal injury that requires creative legal strategizing and extensive legal experience.

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide poisoning arises when one breathes in carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas devoid of scent, flavor, and hue. Even minimal exposure can have various effects on an individual, leading to fatigue, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide over a substantial duration can give rise to grave symptoms and health hazards, such as loss of consciousness, permanent brain damage, and fatality.

Published on: June 18, 2014

Children poisoned by carbon monoxide at Daycare sent to Hospital

By Leesfield & Partners

Yesterday, 72 children and 10 adults were emergently transferred to the hospital after a carbon monoxide leak was discovered at a daycare facility. Among all the small children, five were clearly more affected by headaches and vomiting. The authorities advised that the leak at “Les Petits Explorateurs” daycare in Quebec was contained and thankfully a tragedy had been avoided. The investigation continues as to how the leak had occurred the first place.

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after inhalation of carbon monoxide, a toxic, odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas. Minimal exposure can affect a person in many ways, including fatigue, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. If carbon monoxide poisoning is prolonged over a significant period of time, severe symptoms and health risks will occur such as losing consciousness, permanent brain damage, and death.

In 2008, a Florida law finally passed with the help of Ira H Leesfield, which requires that every building for which a building permit is issued for new construction on or after July 1, 2008, and having a fossil-fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage shall have an approved operational carbon monoxide alarm installed within 10 feet of each room used for sleeping purposes. (Fla. Stat. § 553.885)

Published on: June 10, 2013

Three people killed by carbon monoxide in North Carolina hotel room in two months

By Leesfield & Partners

Jeffrey Lee Williams and his mother Jeannie Williams were staying in hotel room 225 at the Best Western in Boone, North Carolina, this past weekend. On Saturday, the hotel staff was alerted by Jeannie’s husband that he could not reach his family and asked to go check on them. When they opened the door, first responders found the dead body of 11-year-old Jeffrey. Next to him was his mother Jeannie, who was still alive, but in a deep state of asphyxia. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, and as of today, Jeannie is listed in stable condition, still recovering at Watauga Medical Center.

On Monday afternoon, the Watauga County Health Department in charge with finding the cause of this incident advised that carbon monoxide was found in the hotel room where Jeffrey and his mother were staying this past weekend. Initially, the cause of death of the young boy was asphyxia, which leads to believe that something in the hotel room had caused his death.

Local news station WCNC-TV reports today that the hotel room in which the mother and son were staying was situated directly above the swimming pool of the hotel and the gas heater used to heat the water of the pool. The investigation is ongoing and further testings will be conducted in the next few days.

Published on: January 8, 2013

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning kills elderly woman in Miami

By Leesfield & Partners

After being alerted by the landlord that something was wrong, Paulette Campbell arrived at the apartment of her grandparents, Wylene and Bobby Floyd of Miami Gardens. Upon entering their home, she discovered the body of her grandparents. Wylene had already succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Her grandfather Bobby was still alive, but needed immediate medical attention. Bobby was transported emergently to Jackson Memorial Hospital where his condition is unknown at the present time.

The Miami personal injury attorneys at Leesfield & Partners have led the legislative battle in the State of Florida which gave birth to a new law finally requiring that commercial buildings be equipped with CO detectors. More information on the Florida legislation pertaining to Carbon Monoxide exposure can be found here.

On average, 60,000 Americans suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning every year. The grave danger associated with carbon monoxide is the nature of the deadly gas itself. Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and slightly lighter than air. Undetectable to humans, it is highly toxic and can be deadly when leaked in high concentration.