Initiative to persuade home owners and tenants to purchase CO alarms 5 Million Homes May be at risk from CO Poisoning

10 November 2008

The Rapid Hardware store in Liverpool is backing a campaign to reduce the danger of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in the home by providing massive discounts on audible CO alarms in the run up to and during CO Awareness Week that begins on 17 November.

The store is selling with immediate effect CO 9-volt battery alarms that normally retail for £29.99 for only £19.99 and CO Alarm and Smoke-detector dual-role combination (combi) units that usually cost £39.99 for just £29.99.

Furthermore, during CO Awareness Week the combi units will be reduced by a further 20% to £23.99 on production of a coupon that will be printed in the Liverpool Echo newspaper on Monday and Tuesday 17 and 18 November.

Liz Jenkins, Rapid Hardware's Director of Group Operations, said: "This is a worthwhile campaign that will save lives and prevent serious injury and we are delighted to support it. Audible CO alarms are already good value for money and we are delighted to be able to make them even more affordable. Every home should have a CO alarm and we are pleased to work with Liverpool City Council, the Health Protection Agency, the CO-Awareness charity and the Liverpool Echo to help make that a reality."

It is estimated that five million homes in the UK may be at risk from CO poisoning and approximately 500,000 of these are in the North West. Older people, mothers with children and others who spend a lot of time in the home are especially at risk.

Carbon monoxide (CO) has no smell or taste and is invisible. It is responsible for 50 accidental deaths and nearly 200 serious incidents every year in England and Wales and it is believed that many more cases go undiagnosed.

Lynn Griffiths, founder and President of Co-Awareness, said: "I would strongly advise every householder and tenant to take advantage of this offer and purchase an audible CO alarm. It could save their lives."

Fred Pye, Special Projects Manager with Liverpool City Council, who instigated the initiative with Rapid Hardware as part of the Council's Healthy Homes Programme, said: "Every householder and tenant should make a point of having boilers and other fossil-fuel appliances serviced every year and especially before winter sets in.

"Our second piece of advice is that every home should be fitted with an audible CO alarm. These are already reasonably inexpensive and this deal with Rapid Hardware should bring them within everyone's reach."

Free safety checks of domestic fuel-burning appliances are available to domestic consumers who are:

• Of pensionable age, have a disability or are chronically sick
• Are hearing and/or visually impaired

For information on these and other free services provided by gas and electricity suppliers to people who qualify for them, phone 0845-688-9594 or access www.energywatch.org.uk

Notes to editors

Carbon Monoxide starves the blood of oxygen, causing the body to suffocate from within. At high concentrations, carbon monoxide can kill. People who are exposed to carbon monoxide may experience headaches, dizziness, nausea (feeling sick) and tiredness. High concentrations can cause people to become confused, they may collapse and become unconscious. Exposure to lower concentrations of carbon monoxide for a longer period may affect young people's school work and an adult's ability to concentrate and think clearly.

These symptoms begin to disappear when the patient leaves the gas-filled environment or is removed from it. However, if no action is taken, the gas will continue to accumulate in the blood, eventually leading to brain damage or death.

Anyone suspecting CO poisoning should leave the area of risk immediately.

A multi-agency awareness-raising group comprising the charity CO-Awareness, the Health Protection Agency and Liverpool City Council is advising healthcare professionals to consider the possibility of CO poisoning in the following circumstances:

• More than one person in the house is affected.
• Patients begin to recover when they leave the environment in which they became ill, such as their homes, holiday homes, caravans or hotel bedrooms.
• The symptoms are associated with cooking, use of a stove, or when the central heating is switched on.
• The symptoms are worse in winter when heating is in use.

Anyone suspecting a carbon monoxide build-up in a property should contact the National Grid Gas Emergency Line on 0800-111-999.  Further information is available via:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1190384159845?p=1190384159845

www.co-awareness.org

Press release issued by Hugh Lamont, Communications Manager, HPA North West. Tel 0151-482-5728 or 07764-906508.

Last reviewed: 10 November 2008