Carbon monoxide Fire fighters could be the key to better safety.

We at www.carbonmonoxidekills.com have dealt with countless enquiries from people who have sought legal but more importantly medical help but have been misdiagnosed. I am no longer surprised when someone contacts us who is genuinely taken aback when we understand their problem. They often tell us we are the first to pick up on symptoms and link them to a suspected incident or even a proven one. Why is it that Dr's are so ill educated as to the dangers and symproms of CO. (carbon monoxide). All too many doctors are of the opinion that if you have survived a CO. incident you will fully recover and will be fine. We know from the many victims and victims groups that this is far from the truth. We engage with people every day who's lives have been blighted by a CO related incident these people often never recover fully from the exposure.

Fire fighters on the other hand have much better knowledge and understanding of the dangers of CO. In the USA they are often the first port of call when someone suspects that there has been a carbon monoxide emission, not so in the UK which lags far behind. On a recent visit to the UK, Dr David Penney and the founder of www.carbonmonoxidekills.com Rob Aiers engaged with a number of health professionals including government departments and the information was disparate at best. When talking to Fire Fighters at the same meeting, they seemed to have a far better understanding of the dangers but protocols are not yet in place, as they are in the American model. Fire Fighters will often be the ones to send a person to the ER after an event, the person will often pitch up at Hospital and then not be taken seriously or the person they see may not even have the where with all from an educational stand point to deal with the issue.

We need to get medics up to the same standards. There needs to be a broad understanding within the medical profession as there is in Fire Departments, sure there are pockets of medical experts and Dr. Penney is certainly one of those. However, maybe if like Fire Fighters medics own lives depended on their understanding, perhaps they would know a little more. Donald Rumsfeld once said, "We don't know what we don't know," and its true that until the basic message gets out how can a medic refer a person on to someone who knows more than they do?

see www.carbonmonoxidekills.com