Laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors for daycares lacking
(CBS DETROIT) - Samah Abdulaziz said she was terrified to learn about a daycare in Allentown, Pennsylvania where 24 children and 4 adults were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning.
"I can't imagine how they felt when they fainted, they didn't even know what it is," Abdulaziz said.
Abdulaziz is the owner of a daycare called Smart Start Learning, located in Dearborn.
She said her daycare has carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of her building, despite the fact Michigan law doesn't require the devices to be installed in daycares unless there is a fuel burning furnace at the location.
"I have one by the kitchen, I have one where the baby room is and I have two downstairs in the basement, you don't smell it, it's the silent killer so it needs to be a law," Abdulaziz said.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is known as the silent killer because even when there are deadly levels present, it can't be smelled. It can be detected early by an approved device.
Each year more than 400 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning and more than 50,000 are hospitalized.
There is currently no federal law that requires schools or daycares to have carbon monoxide detectors present. State law is also lacking, however it's likely the local fire marshal will require it.
In Pennsylvania, where the two dozen children and 4 adults suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, no such law exists for daycares either.
Abdulaziz believes daycare owners should have enough common sense to install them anyways.
"The magnitude is way higher, the threshold is way higher, what you do and what you're willing to do should be above what the law says," Abdulaziz added.
