Randolph, MA – A Randolph mother and her 3-week old baby nearly died after their home filled with carbon monoxide.
Stephanie Polynice and her son Xavion were in their home Sunday night when something didn’t feel right.
“Basically I was really woozy,” said Stephanie. “I laid down on the bed and things were really confusing from then on.”
She then fainted and the baby was lethargic. Her family members called 911.
Randolph Firefighter Tom Binnall was one of the first on the scene.
When Stephanie told him that the heating system was just worked on, he broke out a carbon monoxide detector.
“As we went into the home, the alarm on the monitor started to sound and the deeper into the house we went, the higher the alarm read,” said Binnall.
An ambulance crew also put a special sensor on Stephanie’s finger, which gave them an immediate readout of the carbon monoxide in her blood.
When firefighters and paramedics took a reading of the of carbon monoxide level in Stephanie’s blood it ready 36 percent, a reading of 50 percent is potentially fatal.
The mother and baby were rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital. After treatment and a couple of hours in a hyperbaric chamber, they were fine.
State law requires all homes in Massachusetts to have carbon monoxide detectors.
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