Last Sunday my mother forgot to shut off her car in the garage. I can't provide an explanation as it seems unusual to do that. But she did. The garage is directly under her living quarters. She had a friend over for dinner and after about four hours the smoke detector which had a carbon monoxide detector in it kept on going off. She thought there was something wrong with the detector, but then she did not feel good so she called my sister who told her to call the paramedics.

When the paramedics arrived they discovered the running car and immediately found very high levels of carbon monoxide in the house. They rushed my mom and her friend to the emergency room where they had had an uneventful recovery.

Fortunately no harm was done, but it does illustrate a very important life saving principle. The paramedics were quite certain that if they had remained in the home much longer it would have been fatal. The alarm they had clearly saved their life. Unfortunately the alarm was not one of the better ones. I subsequently learned that the Night Hawk Carbon Monoxide detectors are the best. They even have a unit with a digital display of the carbon monoxide reading.

My mom had a First Alert detector which apparently has a notorious reputation as all the paramedics and ER staff advised to obtain a different brand. The detector was installed about nine months ago and in another six months the detector would have been useless as the sensor wears out. Not so on the Night Hawks as they have an indefinite lifespan. The Night Hawks also have models that plug in an AC outlet so they never need batteries.

The moral of the story is if you don't have a Night Hawk carbon monoxide detector, run, don't walk out to the store and get one. They can save your life or the life of someone you love. In a fire the smoke does not kill you, it is the carbon monoxide. They can also screen for leaks in natural gas that are present in the homes. Ideally it is best to have one installed on every level in your home and certainly outside the bedrooms. Follow the installation instructions carefully as if they are not installed properly they will not be able to detect the gas and not provide the warning they were designed to.

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