Health agency advises Wyomingites to question flu symptoms, get a carbon monoxide detector

A health agency is reminding people of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning this winter.

The odorless, colorless gas can leak from heating systems and can be fatally poisonous to humans.

The Nebraska Regional Poison Center’s Joan McVoy says people often mistake the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning for the flu or food poisoning.

“Symptoms can be… they just don’t feel good,” McVoy says. “They have a headache, they’re dizzy, their vision can be blurred. And they get a lot of the G.I. symptoms, too.  They can be nauseous, they have vomiting. But that headache is the thing that usually kinda keys us into that it’s probably, most likely, carbon monoxide.”

McVoy says Wyoming doesn’t mandate carbon monoxide detectors for every home, but she recommends that everyone have them, especially near the bedrooms.

She also recommends having the phone number for your gas company or local fire department available in case of a carbon monoxide leak.

More information is available at www.nebraskapoison.com.