Sheffield Lake, OH – The MOrning Journal – A family of six was admitted to the hospital yesterday after carbon monoxide levels inside their Sunset Avenue home rose to a potentially lethal level, according to the Sheffield Lake Fire Department.
Firefighters received a call for an ill child at the home at 8:08 a.m. yesterday, and found the child with ”flu-type symptoms,” said firefighter and paramedic Andy Monda Jr.
The child, whose age was unavailable, was taken to Community Health Partners and the remaining family members, two adults and three children, were advised to seek precautionary treatment due to exposure to the high carbon monoxide levels, according to the fire department.
The carbon monoxide reading in the house was 300 parts per million, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration states that exposure to levels greater than 35 ppm beyond eight hour period is unsafe, according to Monda.
The cause of the 300 ppm carbon monoxide levels was determined to be an improperly vented furnace, according to the fire department. Columbia Gas and the Sheffield Lake building inspector also responded to the scene, Monda said.
The family was admitted for overnight observation at the hospital. Monda said he was not sure of the child’s condition as of last night, but he did say showing flu-like symptoms is an early stage of carbon monoxide poisoning.