Poison gas alarm is ‘cheap as chips’ Christmas present

If you are looking for a last minute Christmas present a carbon monoxide poisonous gas detector alarm is the perfect answer.

At around £15 each, Baroness Findlay of Llandaff, chair of the important All Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group APPGSG), says alarms are as ‘cheap as chips’. And they can protect and save lives!

The threat of gas poisoning was being further highlighted at a special reception in the House of Lords just before Christmas. Andrew Leech, director of the National Home Improvement Council was present and asked the important question about how many detectors were installed in UK homes?

But statistics seem pretty ‘furry’ in this respect. It is estimated that between only 25% and 37% of homes are fitted with the poisonous gas detectors. Indeed it various from area to area. For example according to Gary Oakford of Merseyside Fire & Rescue, on his patch there are only 12% of homes ‘guarded’ by these alarms!

Yet there are around 50 deaths a year from carbon monoxide poisoning. Some 4000 thousand people are diagnosed with the symptoms of gas poisoning annually and 200 are admitted to hospital suffering the dire consequences!

The World Health Organisation identifies the common symptoms as: ‘Headache, lethargy/fatique, nausea, dizziness and confusion. A victim may also suffer from shortness of breath, cardiac palpitations, convulsion, paralysis, loss of consciousness, coma and eventually death!’

So perhaps a carbon monoxide alarm shouldn’t be ‘just for Christmas’ but an essential all-year-round home improvement!

More information: www.policyconnect.org.uk/appgsg