PULSE Magazine | April 2019 Issue

Safety Division

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SAFETY UPDATE

CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) DETECTOR TEST

In an effort to enhance our capabilities for your safety, the department will be testing personal CO detectors. This will be a month long beta test to gather data on usability of the detector. The detectors will be tested on M01, M03, M18, and DC06 from April 8th – May 6th. The detector will be secured to the Zoll Monitor through the loop of the shoulder strap and tethered. This provides protection for the detector while not blocking the air inlet for fresh air sampling. The CO detector is always on, testing for CO, and has a two year battery life. There is no reason to push any of the buttons and it should NEVER be turned off. This devise is maintenance free and requires nothing other than knowing it is there and action on your part if it alarms or gets heavily soiled. The CO detector range is 0-2000 ppm. The alarm limits for the detector are set at 50 ppm for Alarm 1 and 125 ppm for Alarm 2. The alarm is audible, visual (flashing red light), and the unit will vibrate. If the detector alarms, one of the crew members must stop what they are doing and look at the CO detector. That crew member must make note of the parts per million reading and inform everyone on scene of that reading.

Once it has been determined that an alarm level of CO is present, then the crew and everyone on scene must be promptly evacuated from the area. This includes all first responders, the patient, family, and if any bystanders. Evacuation to outside or known ventilating space is ideal.

The CO detector will continue to monitor, so as you are evacuating, five (5) minute checks of the CO level is required until level is below 35 ppm.

Goals of the Test:

1. Deploy CO detector on busy units and one commander during the test phase

2. Determine the durability of the device

3. Determine if location on Zoll monitor is best for:

a. Air sampling

b. User interface and compliance

c. Accountability

d. Durability

4. Determine if the commander CO detector should be carried on the person vs. Zoll monitor

5. Seek feedback from crews and commanders

6. Determine if it’s a good safety device for system wide deployment

More detailed instructions are available in the emailed Safety Update dated April 4th, 2019

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