Commercial Integrator + Security Sales - January/February 2025 - 34

MONITORING MATTERS by Morgan Hertel
Winter Means an Upswing
in Carbon Monoxide-Related Issues
IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR: The time when the
weather is getting colder, snow is here in parts of the
country, and people are busy firing up furnaces, fireplaces and
wall heaters. It's also the time of year when carbon monoxide
alarms will be occurring.
There are a lot of reasons that CO events start to occur, and it
really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone why. But it is important
to understand so that service companies can effectively service
accounts that are generating alarm events.
Today, most newer detector heads are incredibly stable when
installed correctly. And, the majority of the time, the reason for
alarms is that there is CO present in detectable amounts.
The Reasons That Can Create Alarms
Some of the reasons that can create alarms are mechanical in
nature and are things like snow or ice covering a vent or flue
or vents that were clogged up because of squirrels storing food
for the winter. Alternatively, it can be something as simple as
a vehicle that was left running in a garage or a generator left
running on the porch.
Rarely do detectors create a false alarm without a solid cause.
About 15 years ago, I was chairman of a The Monitoring
Association committee that worked on the TMA CO-01 dispatch
standard. At the time, there was a lot of confusion as to what
was a reasonable and prudent way to manage CO alarms. The
confusion and the misunderstanding were responsible for a
fair amount of tragedy and loss.
We analyzed dozens of actual alarm events to come up with
procedures that would work and protect people's lives.
One of the things that happens with CO is that, when you
are affected by CO (just like other mind-altering chemicals
that cause you not to be able to make rational decisions), your
ability to ingest information, process it and make a good choice
becomes incredibly compromised.
During the process of updating the standard, when we looked
closely at what took place, in almost all the cases, the monitoring
center did actually call and speak with the subscriber.
In some cases, they spoke with a subscriber multiple times,
warning them of the condition. However, they refused to have
first responders come to their aid, and, in many cases, a loss of
life occurred.
Craft a Procedural Standard to Define Workflow
The result was to craft a procedural standard that defined the
workflow in how to manage a CO alarm in a monitoring center.
The first part of managing CO alarms is to make sure that the
communicator is actually sending an alarm condition. This is
different from a trouble or supervisory message, which would
be an indicator that something is wrong with the detector or
the supervision of it.
In older systems, some did not actually have a CO zone type.
So, it had to be converted to one at the central station. The
result is to make sure that the system is wired and programmed
to send in CO alarms - not to send other types of signals -
when the detector reaches an alarm condition.
The procedure was pretty clear and well defined, and it went
like this: Upon receipt of this alarm, a call is immediately made to
the premises. The main reason for the call is not to verify the event
but, rather, to tell the occupants to immediately get out of the
home and wait for the fire department. Simple and to the point.
The next step is to dispatch every time, with no exceptions.
Yes, this initially could cause some frustration with
a subscriber. However, in almost every case, when the fire
department did arrive, they found high concentrations of CO
present in the home.
Over the last several years, as the newer NFPA standards have
been adopted by municipalities, CO is now being addressed in
those standards. Most jurisdictions have a dispatch-first policy
and then notify the occupants to get out.
CO is serious. In fact, it's even more serious than fire, in my
opinion, because it's colorless and odorless and causes you to
make poor decisions. In the event of a fire, most people's common
sense tells you to get out if the home is actually on fire. CO,
by contrast, isn't as apparent.
Proper Actions Save
Over the years, I have lost track of the hundreds of times that
we have heard back that the proper actions saved a family or
a loved one, as well as how thankful they were that the fire
department was dispatched after all.
CO monitoring is one of the most beneficial services we can
offer in our industry. However, like any other life safety service,
the codes and standards have to be followed in both the monitoring
center and the installation and service.
Most CO detectors have shelf lives and will need to be
periodically replaced. Homeowners must be educated about
what to expect, and technicians must be trained on the proper
installation methods in order to meet the standards.
Lastly, CO detectors must be tested using the manufacturers'
recommended methods to ensure the wiring and programming
is correct.
With all this in place, we will save lives, which is one of the
reasons I get up in the morning. Not many professions get to do
that every day. SSI
MORGAN HERTEL is vice president of technology and innovation for Rapid Response Monitoring. He can be reached at mhertel@rrms.com.
34 Commercial Integrator+Security Sales & Integration | January/February 2025

Commercial Integrator + Security Sales - January/February 2025

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