Colorado Teenager Saves Family Of 4 From Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (CBS4) - A mother and her three children have Alexis Arrieta, her teenage brother, to thank for saving them from a silent killer. Overnight Monday, their home in Commerce City filled with a dangerous level of carbon monoxide from a faulty furnace.
When the 14-year-old arrived Tuesday morning and realized how sick they were, he quickly called 911.
"We're glad you're okay," said Kat Moon, a Northglenn Ambulance EMT, as she hugged Alexis.
The 8th grader is now forever connected to the ambulance crew of Moon and paramedic Stacie Heinecke.
"He did an amazing job this morning," said Heinecke.
"Without him it would have been a totally different story," said Moon.
That's because Claudia Olivas and her three children might never have made it to a hyperbaric chamber to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.
"He did really save their lives," said Alexis' 9-year-old niece, Jaylene Flores.
The saga began in Commerce City just before 7 a.m. Tuesday. Alexis and Jaylene were dropped off at the home of his sister, Claudia, before school. His 3-year-old niece, Daleyza, had stomach pains.
"It was really bad because she was like screaming in pain," said Alexis.
And 29-year-old Claudia was seriously ill.
"She said that she couldn't move," he explained.
Marcos, 11, fainted.
"And he was unconscious in the living room," said Alexis.
Alexis called 9-1-1.
"When I yelled for everyone to go outside, it was pretty chaotic," he said.
Alexis ran back in for 5-year-old Abraham. All were lying in the driveway when the ambulance arrived.
"Most of them were crying," said Moon.
While the emergency crew worked on the family, they say Alexis helped calm the little kids.
"He's definitely a hero," said Heinecke.
"Anybody in my position would do the same thing," said Alexis.
Alexis wants everyone to have working carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.
"If I wouldn't have been there, I'm pretty sure my sister wouldn't have been here today," he said.
The ambulance crew did the right thing by bringing the family to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children and Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center. They are the only hospitals in the region that can treat both adults and children in the hyperbaric chamber at the same time.
Claudia Olivas and her children spent a few hours in the chamber and were released late Tuesday afternoon. According to Xcel Energy, the furnace in the home has been deemed unsafe and the gas has been turned off.