Brandon Twp. – As a fairly new resident of Brandon Township, Bernardine DeJose is happy to live here for the past year.
As a mother of three children, she’s happy to celebrate the holidays with her family, but most of all the registered nurse is happy that she and her family are still alive.
Thanks to the quick action of the Brandon Fire Department and Oakland County Sheriff Deputy Terry Somerville, the DeJose family survived carbon monoxide poisioning.
Saturday, Nov. 15 was a cold night so the DeJose family lit a fire in the fireplace.
At bedtime, as their 4-year-old son Isaac and 12- year-old daughter Jireah were fast asleep, Bernardine checked the fire, which was out. No embers were glowing in the firebed, so she closed the chimney flue to be sure no draft would come into the house, then went upstairs to bed.
Within a half-hour of closing the fireplace Bernardine began felt ill and the carbon monoxide detector began to ring.
‘The first thing that made us aware of the problem was the detector. I’m glad it worked,? said Bernardine. ‘We didn’t feel the symptoms before that.?
‘Oseas (my husband) heard the alarm so I told him to open the windows’still not thinking of the fireplace as the problem.?
Oseas opened all the windows and after a half- hour, thinking the home was cleared of the silent, odorless gas, closed the windows again.
Bernardine, however, began to get sick and requested her husband call 911 for a list of symptoms for CO2 poisioning.
‘I felt dizziness, a focalized headache, nausea, abdominal pains and diarrhea,? Bernardine said.
Within seconds Brandon firefighters were on scene to assist the family out of the home and began administering oxygen to the victims.
‘Just as Oseas hung up the phone the ambulance was here.,? said Bernardine.
By the time paramedics Matt Bess, Scott Williams, and Matt Whorton arrived little Isaac, who had been asleep, would not wake up and Bernardine was becoming severely ill.
‘We vacated the house right away and they began giving us oxygen, right away,? she continued.
Daughter Jireah was symptom free because she had been sleeping in the basement, beyond the smoke induced carbon monoxide, however, was transported with the rest of the family, to Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital for further observation. Son Jerimiah, 17, was staying the night at a friends.
‘My 4-year-old son was asleep and they could not get him to wake up until we got to the hospital, but I was so sick I didn’t know what was going on with him,? said Bernardine.
‘I am so glad (the paramedics) came right away.?
Because she has been a nurse for more than 24 years, Bernardine was embarrassed she did not suspect CO2 poisioning right away. She figured, however, if it could happen to her it could happen to anyone and would like to warn residents to install detectors in their homes immediately.
‘The most important thing I can say is to get a detector’that is very important,? said Bernardine.
The DeJoses say they moved here because it is a small community full of peace and quiet. Her insurance agent, however, told them their rates would increase because they were living in an area that was an all volunteer fire department which would mean a slower response time.
Bernardine said for the past year they have been charged an exorbitant price for insurance, but is grateful for the quick response of the Brandon Fire Department, which is not an on-call department.
‘That night I thought about what that insurance guy said,? Bernardine said.
‘That fire department was here the moment my husband put the phone down.You can bet my agent is going to get a call from me.?
DeJose warns that she was unaware a fireplace could cause carbon monoxide poisioning and states since the incident she’s learned–in addition to the fireplace–furnaces and hot water heaters should also be checked for dangerous CO2 leaks.
On Sunday, Nov. 23 several people were treated and released from the Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital in Pontiac for potential carbon monoxide poisioning after suspected exposure to a faulty Waterford public pool heater.
‘We treated several patients here that night,? said hospital spokesperson Dr. Robert Aranosian. ‘No one we treated had seriously high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood and they were fine.?
Brandon Fire Chief Bob McArthur said Brandon paramedics were contacted by Poison Control to transport a Brandon Township youth to Detroit Children’s Hospital, for treatment in a hyperbaric chamber for carbon monoxide exposure. The youth reportedly had been at the Waterford public pool that evening.
Aranosian said he did not know about the Brandon youth as he was not a patient at POH.