COLUMBUS, Ohio — Carbon monoxide is a deadly gas that can happen anywhere, including in your home.
Joshua Rodriguez, the install manager with Fire & Ice Heating and Air Conditioning, said the gas displaces oxygen in the blood cells.
"It exists, and you can't taste it, you can't see it and you can't smell it,” he said.
Marysville police say 14 people were found unconscious after they were exposed to life-threatening levels of carbon monoxide at the Hampton Inn hotel this past weekend. Rodriguez said that can happen anywhere, even in your home. Especially during the winter months.
"That's when most people are making accidents, you know using the wrong heater or too long of a heater, not opening up windows, not having a properly vented space,” Rodriguez said.
That's why he said it's important to use the tools available to prevent being exposed to the dangerous gas, like getting your furnace checked seasonally, and using carbon monoxide detectors.
Rodriguez said most detectors sound at 30 parts per million a minute and deadly exposure comes at 100 ppm.
"Anything that is running for a period of time and is leaking, this is only compounding and building right? And then it could be getting worse it possibly could get up into the air stream,” he said.
Rodriguez said being proactive is the best way to ward off and keep this form of danger out of your home.
"That's why it's so important because you're protecting your family,” he said.
Rodriguez said there are multiple types of carbon monoxide detectors, but there are general ones that are less than $30.