Lethal levels of carbon monoxide hospitalize elderly father, son

An elderly man and his son are recovering at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore this morning after inhaling lethal levels of carbon monoxide inside their Glen Burnie home overnight.

It is the second time in just more than a week that an Anne Arundel family has been exposed to dangerous levels of the deadly gas.

At just after midnight, county firefighters were called to the 100 block of Thomas Road. Crews found an unconscious 79-year-old man inside the home, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman. His 54-year-old son alerted firefighters to a furnace that he suspected had malfunctioned, emitting carbon monoxide into the air, he said.

Firefighters rescued the men from the home and used a carbon monoxide detector to test for the odorless, colorless and tasteless gas.

They found dangerous levels of the gas in excess of 1,000 parts per million inside a room where an oil burning furnace was located. Elevated readings of carbon monoxide were found throughout the home, Chief Tobia said.

The man and his son were taken to shock trauma with life-threatening injuries. They were treated in a hyperbaric chamber, which forces carbon monoxide away from hemoglobin in blood. The gas binds to hemoglobin in blood and prevents it from carrying oxygen to vital organs, Chief Tobia said.

According to state property records, 79-year-old Richard Yazel and his son, Roland Yazel, live at the home. Shock trauma officials verified the two men were brought to the hospital today. The elder Mr. Yazel was listed in serious condition this morning and his son was listed in fair condition, hospital officials said.

"Anything over 1,200 parts per million is potentially deadly to a patient," Chief Tobia said. "If the individuals had spent another 30 minutes inside that house, they could have been killed. This could have easily turned deadly."

There were no carbon monoxide alarms inside the home. This not only put the residents at risk, but firefighters as well.

"What started as a routine medical call rapidly escalated into a very dangerous situation for everyone involved," Fire Chief J. Robert Ray said.

Chief Tobia said firefighters were unaware that Mr. Yazel had fallen unconscious because of carbon monoxide exposure.

"Because it is odorless, colorless and tasteless, there was no way to assess that gas existed," he said.

Firefighters questioned the younger Mr. Yazel, who alerted them to the oil-burning furnace in the home.

"They retrieved a monitor from the fire engine and when they brought the monitor inside the house, it immediately went off and went to very high levels," Chief Tobia said.

"They had slightly elevated levels," he said. "Their limited exposure did not require treatment, but this was a genuine near-miss for us as well."

In a written statement, Chief Ray said the Fire Department is evaluating its response procedures to ensure the safety of firefighters.

"I encourage every fire chief to use this case as an example of the need for increased awareness during the heating season," he said.

Had the home had working carbon monoxide alarms, the two men would have been alerted to the gas and firefighters immediately would have known what they were dealing with, he said.

On Nov. 12, a family of four was able to escape their Arnold home without serious injury after carbon monoxide alarms inside the house alerted them to dangerous levels of the gas.

After the alarms went off at 7:30 a.m., the family, including a 38-year-old man, 27-year-old woman, 3-year-old boy and 7-month-old girl, immediately woke up, got out of the home and called for help.

They were taken by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Parole for evaluation.