The death to carbon monoxide were preventable

Photo Agence QMI, Sylvain Denis
In the afternoon of march 16, 2017, the lifeless body of Joel Nicolas, 59, was found in his parked vehicle in the district of Rosemont in Montréal. Ten minutes is sufficient to achieve a concentration of carbon monoxide is deadly.

Frederique Giguere

Friday, 16 February 2018 20:37

UPDATE
Friday, 16 February 2018 20:37

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Three men died from carbon monoxide poisoning while attempting to remove snow from their car during the storm of the century last year. The coroner urges public Health of Montreal to raise awareness among the public.

“When the exhaust pipe of a car is buried in snow and that a person enters his car and starts the engine, in just 10 minutes, the rate of concentration of carbon monoxide is so high that you can die” said Luc Lefebvre, a toxicologist at the regional directorate of Montreal public Health.

Photo courtesy

Luc Lefebvre

Toxicologist

This is exactly what happened in mid-march last year for John Malachy Toal, age 88, Howard-Thomas Hansen, 75 years of age, and Joel Nicolas, 59 years of age.

“In all three cases, it was men […] who had shoveled for access to their vehicle, to then take refuge in it, probably to rest from the fatigue of the heart, says the coroner Paul G. Dionne, in his report, made public this week. The three men have put the engine running while the windows were closed. All three have been found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning. “

Storm of the century

Two days before passers-by found their bodies, frozen in their vehicle, the biggest storm of the century descended on the Quebec. At least 40 cm of snow have hit Montreal.

The strong winds and the snow removal operations had also helped to transform thousands of cars in real igloos. According to Dr. Paul G. Dionne, of the deaths of three Montreal were preventable.

The toxicologist Lefebvre remembers also five other cases of poisoning that have occurred during the storm of last year.

“They were all children, he says. Fortunately, they are not dead, but you often see this kind of case. The parent does not want to leave her child alone in the house or outside in the cold, so he installs it in his car seat and starts the car so that it warms up. “

Raise the awareness of the public

In his report, the coroner recommended that the public Health of Montreal to ” continue and intensify its public awareness of the risks associated with snow storms, focusing more on the risk of poisoning by exhaust gases of motor vehicles “.

The message has been heard. In the next few days, a video will be aired to raise awareness of the danger. However, regardless of the means of raising awareness, the watchword remains the same : to remove snow from the exhaust pipe of his car before starting the engine is of paramount importance, insists the toxicologist Lefebvre.