Flat Rock, NC- FLAT ROCK, N.C. — A family of five was hospitalized and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning early Monday morning, according to Henderson County EMS Manager Terry Layne.
One of the daughters woke up feeling sick, and the 18-year-old found her father passed out, Layne said.
“If she didn’t wake up when she did, they would probably all be dead now,” Layne said.
Dispatcher Ondrea Baker answered the 911 call. It was her last call of the day.
Baker said, I heard her saying something about being sick and that she’d call back. Then the call was disconnected.
So Baker called back.
Baker: What happened to make him pass out?
Teen: I don’t know. He won’t tell me, but he’s just like laying here and
Father: (Inaudible)
Teen: He said he’s going to come into the hospital later, but he just doesn’t want anybody to come. He just wants to lay here.
He wasn’t able to get up. Obviously, that didn’t seem right, Baker said. If he’s still on the ground, something’s wrong — 42-year-old men don’t stay on the ground, if they’d fallen. So something was wrong and she obviously didn’t know and she was scared.
The call made Baker so uncomfortable that she decided to send help to the home on W. Blue Ridge Road in Flat Rock whether the family wanted it or not.
It’s scary to me to think that if I hadn’t sent somebody, people could have been injured or dead, she said.
Baker said the teen calling made all the difference.
She gave me enough for me to know that something was wrong. She did the right thing by calling 911. It never hurts to have someone check someone out like that.
Firefighters from the Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue team arrived and called for ambulances, Layne said. The level of carbon monoxide was 400 parts per million, according to emergency workers. A reading of 50 is considered dangerous.
Fire crews found a generator in the basement of the home, according to Layne. With no ventilation, the deadly poison built up inside the home.
According to Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Brown, the family lost power on Sunday.
The father told News 4’s Mike McCormick that he had paid the bill at an unauthorized payment center so it didn’t go through in time. That’s whey they were using the generator, he said.
The father and his children, 18, 15, 10 and 9, were all taken to a hospital to be checked out. They are staying with relatives until their power is restored.
Brown said, “I’d say they’re extremely lucky. I mean, they did make the call. A lot of times with carbon monoxide poisoning, you go to sleep and never wake up.”