Liverpool climax for Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week » Housing » 24dash.com

A week long programme of initiatives to highlight the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning comes to a climax at Liverpool Town Hall on Friday 21st November with a special event for housing, health and public service delivery professionals as part of CO Awareness Week 2008.

Liverpool is the only city outside of the UK’s four capitals to host an exclusive event and Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council heads a list of local dignitaries, organisations and businesses that will present on a range of CO related issues.

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, usually the result of poorly maintained boilers or other domestic appliances, is thought to kill 50 people in Britain every year and death rates are rising. But there are also believed to be many more victims suffering the ongoing effects of CO poisoning who are not accurately diagnosed and as a result are not receiving appropriate medical support and treatment.

CO-Awareness is a registered charity based in Cheshire that is working to raise awareness of the dangers of CO poisoning and make every area in the UK a safer place to live. Lynn Griffiths, President of CO-Awareness and founder of the CO-Awareness Week, has been actively campaigning since 2005 but her own direct experience began over 20 years ago after her own children were all poisoned by carbon monoxide.

She commented: “CO-Awareness is becoming increasingly concerned at the growing number of victims who are developing similar, if not identical illnesses, from their exposure to the products of combustion such as carbon monoxide. We suspect it’s this exposure that is responsible for the long term health issues that so many victims are suffering from. We are calling on Government, industry and the medical experts to investigate this possibility as a matter of the utmost urgency.

“Carbon monoxide is the most common poison in the UK today yet there is still no medical support for those poisoned by this chemical and it is not routinely tested for at post mortems. We need to make sure all doctors, especially those in emergency departments and GPs, are aware of the symptoms that carbon monoxide can cause.”

As well as the healthcare message, Councillor Bradley will use the platform to describe the council’s Healthy Homes Initiative currently running in Kensington, Liverpool, a theme that will also be picked up by Nick Atkin Chief Executive of Halton Housing Trust, who will focus on the importance of ensuring landlords’ statutory and moral obligations in terms of CO poisoning prevention are fully met.

Mr Atkin said: “The Trust has run a series of campaigns in conjunction with CO-Awareness and has pledged to install CO alarms in every one of its 6,230 homes by 2010 as part of its £85 million investment programme. It is also one of two local charities supported by the Trust.

“A free 45 minute gas safety check by a Trust CORGI registered gas engineer once a year is all it takes to save lives from carbon monoxide.”

He added: “We want to remind all our customers that having an annual service and safety check will give them peace of mind that their home is safe from the dangers of faulty gas appliances. The Trust has a legal duty to carry out the annual service and safety check and takes this responsibility very seriously. That is why we are throwing our full support behind the tireless and fantastic work that Lynn and the CO-Awareness campaign has delivered.”

CO-Awareness Week is intended to draw the dangers of CO poisoning to the wider public’s attention and CO-Awareness is also campaigning for a range of safety measures including annual servicing and checking of all heating appliances, the fitting of CO alarms as standard and the regular checking of all detector alarm sensors with a gas inclusive test, something that John Stones, a Trustee of the Charity, feels is essential to maximise the effectiveness and protection offered
by CO detectors.

Attendees at the Liverpool Town Hall event will include victims who have been poisoned by CO and those who have lost friends and loved ones to this silent and preventable killer. Lynn Griffiths concluded: “It should not take a tragedy to alert the British public to the dangers of CO poisoning. We must no longer stay silent about this silent killer and this year’s Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week will seek to address a wide range of issues but with the long term victims of CO poisoning at the heart of the debate.”