A woman and her son were rescued after they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning in their North Valley Stream home on Sunday morning. 
Officer Michael Frank responded to a Putney Road home and upon arrival he banged on the front door and heard groaning on the other side. The officer opened the door and found a 39-year-old woman who mumbled, “My son…” before passing out, police said.
The officer left the victim in the open doorway where she was able to inhale fresh air and immediately ran upstairs search the home. On the second floor, the officer found an 8-year-old boy unconscious on a bedroom floor.
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He carried the boy outside, then moved the mother to the front lawn and requested another ambulance. Both mother and son were taken to Nassau University Medical Center where they were treated. The victims’ names were not released.
“I have children,” Officer Frank said at a news conference Monday. “I did what anybody would have to do.”
The Elmont Fire Department responded received a reading in excess of 500 parts per million. Upon investigation, they found a gas-powered generator wired to the electrical box in the basement. The building department was notified and the investigation is continuing.
One thing the story doesn’t point out is that if you do have a CO detector and it does go off…..call 911. Mine went off last week in the basement. It was cold at night and the boiler had been running. The hot water heater is down there too. I called the heating oil company thinking it was fumes from the boiler. The dispatcher initially told me to open a few windows and they’d send someone over. Only after speaking with her technician did she call right back and advise us to call the FD. We did. They came. It turned out to be a false reading by the detector. So to be safe, I immediately bought a new one.
Point is……EVERYONE needs a detector…law or no law. EVERYONE needs to know to call 911 if you detect a problem. The FD will come with their meters and address it immediately
What a sad story! Hopefully the mother and son will both be okay.
Please remember that New York now has a law requiring carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in homes, to help prevent incidents like this from occurring. Amanda’s Law, named after Amanda Hansen– a 16-year-old who died from CO poisoning, requires CO alarms in new and existing homes with fuel-burning appliances.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. A carbon monoxide alarm is the only safe way to detect this colorless, odorless gas in your home.