Recently I have read a couple of stories where the writers are sharing personal experiences about their situation. Reading these stories prompted me to make my readers aware of something that new (and even veteran) boaters don’t think too much about.
Here is the scenario:
Your boat is a small (less than 26 feet) deck boat. The water temperature is a little cooler, (75 degrees) and it is the middle of autumn; so, swimming, while an option (at least for our northern guests), wouldn’t be a choice for most Floridians. You are captaining a boat for some of your friends, family or out-of-town guests; onboard, there a couple of kids and adults of all ages. You start the boat; the engine sound reminds you that it’s the end of the season and you shouldn’t put off that 100-hour maintenance any longer.
It is a beautiful sunny day with no wind. What a great day to be out on the water. Given the cooler weather, you decide to take a nice long joy ride and show your passengers the sights. Since Grandma and your little nephew are onboard, you decide to bring a fishing pole, just in case the mood strikes. After all, your float plan is basically cruising around at slow speed taking in the sights and perhaps put a pole in the water; even if it is just for a few minutes to entertain your youngest nephew.
Because all the adults on board are drinkers, and especially Grandma; you have your cooler packed with various alcoholic beverages. Hey, you promised you would show your guests a good time; right? Of course, you are a responsible captain and have decided to drink soda while you’re driving everyone around. You picked up some snacks a few days ago; or perhaps you put something together from your refrigerator full of leftovers. The point is…You are a good host.
During the first 2-hours of your voyage everything is going like clockwork. You cruise a little, stop a little, just long enough for your nephew to do a little fake fishing. Heck, you don’t even anchor or stop the engine because your nephew gets distracted easily and then it’s time to move on. Everyone one is having a great time. Music is playing, people are drinking their drinks, catching that buzz and eating the snacks. Bottom line; you couldn’t have planned it better.
While making your way all around the sights, Grandma asks if you have any aspirin or Tylenol. You ask why. She says she has a slight headache and is feeling a little seasick. You think to yourself…” How much has she had to drink?” After all (you think); Grandma could put it away back in her day. You stop the boat and look for the first-aid kit for some Tylenol. While your looking, your nephew starts to complain that he is seasick and feels like he’s going to throw up. You tell him that he will feel better if he goes and sits down next to Grandma. As for everyone else, they are feeling no pain. You get the Tylenol for Grandma (she takes it) and your nephew is saying he thinks he feels better. As far as everyone else, they all are having a wonderful time.
You venture along a little while longer and eventually you decided to head back. As you make your turn to head back, you look around towards stern and you noticed that Grandma and your nephew have decided to take a nap. You think, to yourself; “how can they sleep through such a beautiful day?”
About 20 minutes later, you see a couple of dolphins breaking the water’s surface. As expected, everyone starts to point and get excited. You put the engine in neutral so everyone can watch the unexpected dolphin show. Man, you couldn’t plan this day any better. You look around and see that Grandma and your nephew are still napping. Knowing they both would be upset if they missed the dolphins, you yell at them; “wake up, you’re missing the dolphins!” Knowing that the dolphin show can be over as quickly as it started, you get up and go over to them to give them a little nudge.
As you make your way aft, you shout out another “hey, get up…. you’re missing it,” followed by a little nudge. Neither of them wakes up. You grab Grandma’s shoulder and give her a little shake while saying her name. But there is no response. By this time, the nephew’s mom, wanting her son to see the dolphins, made her way back aft to your nephew and can’t seem to get a response out of him either. At this point you realize something is very wrong and excitement turns to concern. What’s going on?
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At what point in the story did you think something bad was going to happen? When you realized something was going to go bad, did you think about carbon monoxide? What were some of the key indicators in the story? Or, did you think the cause was due to something else?
Most of us are aware that carbon monoxide (CO) is a dangerous gas with no detectable odor. In fact, along with odorless, it is colorless, tasteless, and non-irritating. That is why CO is known as the “silent killer.” Therefore, the early signs of CO poisoning are difficult to detect; especially on a boat. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is measured in “Parts per Million” (PPM). The information below illustrates what symptoms may appear after one hour of exposure:
CO:0-9 ppm CO: no health risk; normal CO levels in air.
10-29 ppm CO: problems over long-term exposure; chronic problems such as headaches, nausea
30-35 ppm CO: flu-like symptoms (headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness; basically someone could appear drunk) begin to develop, especially among the young and the elderly.
36-99 ppm CO: flu-like symptoms among all; nausea, headaches, fatigue or drowsiness, vomiting.
100+ ppm CO: severe symptoms (mental confusion, vomiting loss of muscular coordination, loss of consciousness, death); confusion, intense headaches; ultimately brain damage, coma, and/or death, especially at levels 300-400+ ppm
When you breath in CO, it stays in your body. Like oxygen, CO enters the blood stream via the lungs. Once in the blood stream, it must leave in the same way oxygen does; through the lungs as you exhale. Therefore, it will take about four to six hours to exhale a high dose of CO. When too much carbon monoxide is in the air you're breathing, your body replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells with carbon monoxide. This prevents oxygen from reaching your tissues and organs. This is why breathing CO can be so detrimental.
Various studies have been conducted to determine how much CO could be inhaled if someone was directly exposed to a car engine exhaust. The 10-minute readings were taken in direct and close proximity to the exhaust pipe. The readouts of CO concentrations varied in range depending on the direction and force of the wind. Bursts of high concentrations of CO were recorded from 167 to 790 ppm, while the constant level of results was maintained around 45–200 ppm.
These readings were performed on a gasoline combustible engine without a catalytic converter. A catalytic converter is a device in the overall exhaust system that takes the toxic exhaust from a gasoline engine and reduces the toxicity of the exhaust into less-toxic pollutants before it reaches the tailpipe. For example, in an efficient car with a catalytic converter produces an average CO concentration of 12 ppm, while outside the concentration is only around 2 to 5 ppm.
Until recently, most boat engines didn’t come with a catalytic converter and a lot still don’t. Therefore, the amount of CO in ppm concentration from boat engine exhaust is in the much higher range of 167 to 790 ppm spikes and the 45–200 ppm consistent range.
As captain, you are responsible for the safety and well-being of your passengers and crew. Keeping crew and passengers away from the engine exhaust is something Captains should always be thinking about.
The one take away from this post is making sure that if you have a passenger or crew that complains from headaches, seasickness or exhibiting signs of being drunk, make sure you rule out exposure to CO; especially if your passengers are in enclosed spaces.
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