Shakopee Snapshot: Winter 2024-25

PUBLIC SAFETY

Protect yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning this winter

CHIEF’S NOTES

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas that is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, making it incredibly sneaky and dangerous. When breathed into the body, carbon mon oxide combines with the blood and prevents it from absorbing oxygen. When this oxygen deficient blood reaches the heart and brain, it can damage those organs and cause illness or even death. The physical symptoms of CO poisoning depend on the amount in your bloodstream. Mild exposure can cause a slight headache, nausea, blurred vision, vomiting, fatigue, or flu-like symptoms that disappear when the person breathes fresh air. Moderate exposure causes drowsiness, severe headache, confusion, and rapid heart rate. Severe exposure causes convulsions, uncon sciousness, cardiac/respiratory failure, and death. Other signs of CO can include unusually high indoor humidity with persistent heavy con densation on walls and windows, stuffy or stale indoor air, and soot or water collecting near a burner or vent. Most homes have small amounts of car bon monoxide in them, but the levels are extremely low. Levels near a furnace or water heater are acceptable between 5 and 15 ppm (parts per million). If levels of 35 ppm or higher are found anywhere in the home, you should leave the area immediately. Minnesota State Statute requires every home be equipped with CO alarms within 10 feet of every bedroom. These alarms can be hard-wired,

plug-in, or battery operated. They should be mounted according to the directions on their packaging. If you suspect CO in your home: ■ Open the windows to ventilate the area. ■ Shut off your furnace and other fuel burning appliances. ■ If you’re experiencing physical symptoms, get everyone, including your pets, out of the house. ■ If your alarm sounds and you are not feeling any symptoms, contact your natural gas, propane, or fuel oil supplier and have them respond to check your home for CO. ■ If you have physical symptoms, call 911. ■ If CO is discovered, do not return to Carbon monoxide poisoning can happen to anyone and is a particular danger in the win ter months due to our use of furnaces and other fuel-burning appliances. Take steps now to protect yourself and your family by installing CO alarms in your home or testing your existing alarms. your home until the source has been found and the problem corrected.

Since joining the Shakopee Fire Department in June, I have spent much time meeting with people inside and outside our

Shakopee Fire Chief Mike Nelson

organization to learn about the fire department and our community. I have quickly learned that our residents and fire department staff share a passion for our community and take great pride in being part of it, and they should, as we have a lot to be proud of. We recently started reinforcing our department’s values of Pride, Honor, Integrity, and Service. We recognize our staff when they “live our values” by presenting them with our new challenge coin emblazoned with the four values. I hope you have enjoyed reading our social media posts highlighting our staff’s incredible commitment to our community, which goes far beyond the calls we respond to. You may recall that we completed a professional Fire Department Services Evaluation earlier this year. I am proud to say that the organization has worked hard over the last six months to implement many of those recommendations. One of the most significant recommendations in the study was to place full-time staff in one of our two fire stations 24 hours a day. In late August, we implemented this recommendation at Station 1 by modifying our daily staffing model to include three full-time and one part-time firefighter 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It takes over 35,000 hours of staff time a year to maintain four people on duty 24 hours a day. This does not include additional training hours and prevention efforts. Our staff has worked hard to maintain this staffing level since 2020, when COVID started and we first started staffing the station 24 hours a day. Our dedicated part time staff filled roughly 75% (almost 27,000) of those hours every year, placing incredible demands on them and their families. This recent transition will help rebalance those demands for our part-time staff while providing consistent daily staffing for our community. I should also note that our call volume has increased by almost 75% since 2020. We anticipate surpassing 2,000 emergency responses this year, so maintaining adequate staffing will continue to be critical in meeting the needs of our community. Our staff works incredibly hard to ensure we meet the needs of our community, not only now but also in the future. I am proud of our organization, excited about our future, and looking forward to meeting more of you.

Shakopee PD hosting annual diaper drive Keep an eye out after the new year for the annual diaper drive hosted by the Shakopee Police. The 2025 donation dates are yet to be deter mined but will be posted to the City website and Shakopee PD Facebook page when they are announced.

The diaper drive is held annually to sup port Shakopee Community Assistance’s Dia per Bank, which supplies diapers and wipes to local families in need. The drive is held in memory of former Crime Prevention Specialist Janna Wood, who died along with her unborn baby from a brain aneurysm in February 2017. We appreciate the community’s robust sup port of this annual remembrance drive!

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