In the press lately there is no shortage of stories on injury and death from carbon monoxide poisoning around boats. The dangers have been well documented and warnings have been issued from many governmental agencies for years. We do, however, continue to see preventable injury and death from this silent killer.
In northern
Two days later a sheriff’s deputy found the boat run aground and was partly submerged. Jeff Meredith, said Deputy Randy Herman, was still at the helm, slumped over in the driver seat. He was dead.
Near the open stern, would-be rescuers found three more bodies, dead in their sleeping bags. Herman speculated all four were dead before the boat ran aground.
Investigators later determined the family died from what is known as “station wagon effect.” Herman explained this happens when a boat travels at slow speeds with the rear loaded so exhaust is drawn from the exhaust pipes in the stern and accumulates in all low areas of the boat.
This is just one of the horror stories commonly heard every year on how insidious is carbon monoxide, a gas caused by incomplete combustion. Internal combustion engines, gas stoves and heaters, charcoal grills all emit carbon monoxide.
The U.S. Coast Guard, however, has issued warnings to boaters, especially those with swim platforms on their transoms. It notes a study that found houseboats, in particular, with swim platforms, keep carbon monoxide from dissipating into the air but gather and, eventually, creep over the gunwales into the deck areas.
In some parts of the country medical professionals are becoming involved in raising awareness.
“I am getting tired of hearing the same story one after another, ‘I didn't know,'” Robert Baron, emergency room physician at Banner Good Samaritan and Banner Estrella Medical Centers, said. After three people were rendered unconscious by CO on Arizona lakes during a recent July weekend, Baron decided something needed to be done to raise awareness.
Baron, who also serves as medical director for medics at Glen Canyon National Recreation area (Lake Powell), said his staff first raised awareness of CO poisoning involving houseboats.
“The number of deaths occurring around boats is far under-recognized as carbon monoxide poisoning because autopsies do not check for it as a cause of death,” Baron said during a press conference held at the Lake Pleasant 10-lane boat ramp.
Even experienced boaters and medically trained personnel, such as Phoenix Fire Captain Glenn Palmer, found out you can't be too careful around boats, after he succumbed to CO poisoning recently.
“I have been boating for 20 years,” Palmer said as he began to retell the story. “I met up with a buddy of mine and we parked our boats perpendicular as I began to refuel. His exhaust was going underneath my boat and you couldn't hear it. I was having a conversation with my wife and the next thing I knew I was on someone else's boat riding to the marina.”
Palmer's wife told him he just stopped talking in mid-sentence, his eyes rolled back and he fell from the platform to the water. When he came to, he had been unconscious for 10 minutes.
“Now, whenever I am docked or stopped, I turn off the engine,” Palmer said.
Some in the industry believe there should be design changes on boats such as catalytic converters.
“There definitely needs to be a design change. Why would you put a swim platform right next to the source of the carbon monoxide?” Baron asked. “Currently, there are no boats that have catalytic converters, which oxidize carbon monoxide; however, one manufacturer will be making a model with one in 2007. Even so, there are still all of the old boats in use without them.”
There have been many cases of CO poisoning in the press lately.
Two women suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while swimming at Lake Pleasant, underscoring the dangers posed by the gas especially for people engaged in boating-related activities, officials said.
The incident occurred Sunday while the women, ages 19 and 20, were swimming near a number of boats that were afloat in Humbug Cove at the far northern end of the lake, a popular partying spot, said Howard Munding, the Peoria fire marshal.
Boaters often gather there and leave engines and generators running, creating the potential for poisoning, Munding said.
In another incident three children who were exposed to dangerous carbon monoxide fumes.
The children were reportedly riding in the back of a boat near Cemetery Point. A 6-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl all suffered from the poisonous gas.
Authorities say the operator of the boat smelled something strange, turned around and saw the 10-year-old boy collapse.
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless. It’s released by boat generators, propane heaters and in dangerously high concentrations by boat engines. Most boaters aren’t aware of the hazard.
“Typically you don’t see the initial symptoms of headache or confusion because these concentrations are so high, that the person is there, talking, and then unconscious,” explained Jane MaCammon, former Director of National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety.
As noted above one boating exposure to carbon monoxide comes from something called the “station wagon effect.”
It happens when boats travel at low speeds with the rear loaded down and the bow in the air.
Exhaust is sucked and accumulates inside the cabin.
Another carbon monoxide danger can happen when boats are bunched together in a small area, the air can become deadly.
And then there’s teak surfing, holding on to the back of a boat. People breathe in deadly concentrations of carbon monoxide.
Experts recommend installing marine-rated carbon monoxide detectors.
One government study said 607 boaters have been killed from carbon monoxide.
Experts say fresh air circulation is the best way to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, and obviously staying away from exhaust.
And here’s an important statistic: in 90 percent of all boating fatalities combined, the people were not wearing life jackets.
Boat U.S. says this “Recreational boat owners shouldn't be treated as second-class citizens. It's time for the Congress to take that same spotlight to those Coast Guard programs that are supposed to ensure that the boats and engines we buy are safe and can be used as intended and merchandised.”
The internet has a plethora of information and links about the danger of carbon monoxide.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has put out warnings and information as well as the EPA.
Also, it is always important to wear your life jacket. Many of those that are overcome by carbon monoxide fumes merely slip silently beneath the waves after becoming unconscious. There have been many cases where fellow boaters will report that a person was there one second and gone the next. This can happen suddenly and without warning. If boaters wear their life jackets then there remains some chance that they can be saved even if overcome by carbon monoxide.
The bottom line is to avoid boat exhaust fumes when ever possible and wear your life jacket. It may save your life.
Dwayne Clark
Kristen Watson
Dwayne Clark and Kristen Watson are maritime lawyers and boating safety advocates.
************************************************************
NTSB PRESS RELEASE
************************************************************
National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 25, 2006
SB-06-42
************************************************************
NTSB DETERMINES 2005 ETHAN ALLEN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY VESSEL'S INSTABILITY
************************************************************
Washington, DC. - The National Transportation Safety Board today determined that the probable cause of the capsizing of the Ethan Allen was the vessel's insufficient stability to resist the combined forces of a passing wave or waves, a sharp turn, and the resulting involuntary shift of passengers to the port side of the vessel. The vessel's stability was insufficient because it carried 48 persons where post-accident stability calculations demonstrated that
it should have been permitted to carry only 14 persons.
Contributing to the cause of the accident was the failure to reassess the vessel's stability after it had been modified because there was no clear requirement to do so.
On October 2, 2005, the Ethan Allen, a tour vessel carrying
47 passengers and one crewmember capsized in Lake George,
New York. As a result of the accident, 20 passengers died.
"This tragic accident highlights the need for clear requirements to verify a vessel's stability after any modifications are made to the vessel," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker.
In 1964, the Ethan Allen, a 40-foot fiberglass excursion vessel operating under a different name, was certified by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 48 passengers and two crewmembers. In 1979, the boat was purchased by Shoreline Cruises, Inc. and relocated from Connecticut to New York where it came under the jurisdiction of the state. New York state officials established the same load restrictions for the vessel as the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1989, an all-wood canopy with Plexiglas windows was installed on the Ethan Allen. The state's file on the vessel contains no record of inspections and/or stability assessments relating to modifications to the boat's canopy between 1979 and 1991.
As a result of the Safety Board's investigation of the accident involving the Ethan Allen, the following recommendations were made:
To the United States Coast Guard:
Provide guidance to the States on U.S. Coast Guard standards for and assessment stability of small passenger vessels.
To New York State:
Address safety deficiencies identified in the investigation of the Ethan Allen accident and issue technical guidance to vessel owners on the inspection requirements for modified vessels, stability assessment and criteria, means for determining maximum safe load conditions, drug and alcohol testing, manning, and safety briefings.
Discontinue the use of capacity plate data associated with the U.S. Coast Guard's noncommercial boating standards for determining passenger loading on public vessels that carry more than six passengers and adopt the Coast Guard small passenger vessel inspection standards.
A synopsis of the Board's report, including the probable cause and recommendations, is available on the Board's website,
www.ntsb.gov. The Board's full report will be available on the website in several weeks.-30-
Media Contact: Terry N. Williams
williat@ntsb.gov
202) 314-6100
************************************************************
This message is delivered to you as a free service from the National Transportation Safety Board.
You may unsubscribe at any time at
http://www.ntsb.gov/registration/registration.htmAn archive of press releases is available at
http://www.ntsb.gov/pressrel/pressrel.htmCurrent job opportunities with the NTSB are listed at
http://www.ntsb.gov/vacancies/listing.htm
Services for Vincent Rutowski are scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel in Buford. Rutowski died after he was run over by the airboat on which he was riding.
Fish and Wildlife and the Coast Guard are investigating this tragic accident.
Dwayne
An investigation continues into the deaths of two people who were killed Sunday when the boat they were in struck a barge in the Missouri River near Tekamah, Neb. Killed were Colton Peterson, 20, a 2004 Blair (Neb.) High School graduate, and Morgen Wees, 19, a 2005 Ralston High School graduate.
Dwayne
Defense attorney Stephen Greer told jurors Wednesday that the computer-generated video is flawed and misleading, partly because it ignores some descriptions of what happened after the 14 boats took off for the Working Man's Bass Club tournament.
We have found that computer animations can be very persuasive in maritime cases. When well done viewers often accept the animation as reality. Most judges expect that there be an accurate factual foundation for the animation and it must comport with the facts or usually is excluded. There is a body of law on admissibility of these types of animations.
This is an interesting case.
Dwayne
In general I think the theme of this article is correct. If in doubt talk with your local maritime lawyer and / or marine insurance broker. A little consultation up front may save you a bundle down the river.
Dwayne
| |||||
|
Posts
All Comments
