Minimize the risk of CO poisoning

To boaters, time spent on the water conjures up images of fresh air and fun. Yet the air in and around the boat could be hiding a potentially deadly threat—one that everyone should be aware of, warns the Office of Boating Safety, a division of Transport Canada.

Have your vessel's engine and exhaust system maintained regularly by a marine technician.

Install a marine-grade CO detector in each enclosed space on your boat. Check detectors before each trip.

Make sure all passengers on board are familiar with CO early poisoning signs (irritated eyes, headache, nausea, weakness or dizziness). CO poisoning can easily be misdiagnosed as seasickness, intoxication or heat stress. If any passenger complains of the symptoms listed above, immediately move the person to fresh air and seek medical attention for them if necessary. Investigate possible causes of CO poisoning and take corrective action.

Visually inspect channels in the boat (designed or retrofitted) between the engine compartment and the companionway or living areas. These channels are designed to allow tubing or wiring to run between these areas. They could also bring CO from the engine into your sleeping or living areas.

Transport Canada has developed CO backgrounders in French and English. Visit tc.gc.ca/boatingsafety/news/co2.htm

“Carbon monoxide is a major risk for boaters, mainly because boaters can be poisoned by various levels of carbon monoxide and confuse the symptoms with other illnesses, such as the flu, seasickness, heat exhaustion or intoxication,” explains Brian Elson, boating safety officer in the office's Atlantic region. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas—a by-product of the incomplete combustion of fuels such as gas, diesel, wood, etc. On boats CO is released by boat generators, propane heaters and, most significantly, in engine exhaust.

The blood’s capacity to carry oxygen is compromised by the gas.

“By replacing oxygen with carbon monoxide in our blood, our bodies poison themselves by cutting off the needed oxygen to our organs and cells, causing various amounts of damage. High levels of carbon monoxide causes convulsions, seizures and can be fatal, causing death within seconds,” Brian explains, quoting from one of the office's safety documents.

A January 2005 OmniCan study commissioned by Kidde Safety (a division of Kidde Canada), a manufacturer of fire and safety products, found that more than half of Canadians surveyed didn't perceive carbon monoxide poisoning as a serious risk. Nevertheless, CO poisoning is a major cause of accidental death in North American households. While that’s on the homefront, boaters may be even less aware of the risks, says Carol Heller, vice-president of residential products at Kidde.

“Boaters are largely unaware of the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning,” she says. “They believe that since they are outside enjoying nature there is no risk, but there is.”

The poisoning can occur without warning, even while boaters are going about their everyday activities.

“Carbon monoxide can build up when someone is inside their cabin with the hatches closed charging batteries or heating the hot water tank,” says Curtis Bullock, general manager of the Dartmouth Yacht Club. “Here in Atlantic Canada we have a number of boaters out late in the season so that situation could certainly arise.”

Canada doesn’t keep official stats on boating deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning and according to the Office of Boating Safety, there are no confirmed cases in Atlantic Canada. But this doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. The United States Coast Guard publishes “Boating Statistics,” an annual report that indicates CO poisoning was reported in 46 cases in the past three years.

“It is conceivable that this number could be much higher due to the fact that many people confuse the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning with other illnesses [that commonly occur on boats],” says Brian.

If a boat is operating with an engine that hasn't been tuned properly, the risk of CO poisoning is much higher, Carol says.

Older boats, as well as boats with exhaust leaks, improper ventilation systems or gasoline generators for auxiliary power are the crafts that pose the most concern. One risk is known as the “back draft,” or “station wagon effect.” This is a situation, Brian explains, where carbon monoxide accumulates inside the cabin and cockpit of a moving vessel. It happens most often when the vessel is being operated at a high bow angle or if it has any aftermarket coverings added to the cockpit area.

Not just a risk for boaters, carbon monoxide can prove dangerous for those who swim or dive around boats too—especially when the engine or generator is, or has been, running for an extended period of time prior to the swim. Even those who sit in the stern area may be at risk.

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