The beginning of the year can be a great time to go around your house checking batteries and making sure that the carbon monoxide detectors in your home or apartment are in proper working condition. Ensuring that you can detect this dangerous gas, which is colorless and odorless, can keep your family from suffering serious injuries such as brain injury. Carbon monoxide can also result in death depending on the levels present.
The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can vary greatly, from nausea, fatigue, and headaches to vomiting, palpitations and seizures. These symptoms can be indicative of other conditions; however, there are certain laboratory tests that can be taken to test for carbon monoxide poisoning. If you are suffering from these symptoms when in your apartment, but feel better when you leave, this may be an indication that you need to get tested. However, if the symptoms are very serious and immediate, you should exit your apartment or home and call emergency personnel for immediate assistance.
If a person suffers prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide poisoning, he or she may suffer behavioral, cognitive or emotional effects that are a result of an acquired brain injury. Some of these effects may be temporary, while other may be permanent in nature. Carbon monoxide inhalation causes brain injury by interfering with the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain. If there is a complete interruption of the oxygen, this is known as cerebral anoxia, while a partial interruption is known as cerebral hypoxia. Both conditions can mean serious brain injuries requiring years of medical treatment, and a change of your life as you know it.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors And Tenancy Law
This is why carbon dioxide detectors are required under Florida law in most buildings, especially buildings constructed after 2008, containing devices or elements that emit carbon dioxide as a byproduct of combustion. If a tenant alerts the landlord to the fact that a carbon monoxide detector is missing or defective, the landlord should fix it unless the lease provides otherwise. If you are a tenant in a qualifying apartment building required by law to have carbon monoxide detectors, you may seek compensation from the landlord for failure to provide the required detectors. If it is determined that the landlord has a duty to provide smoke detectors in your apartment or house, and the landlord fails to provide the detectors, the tenant may recover for injuries caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
As a tenant, you should make sure that no one in your household disables or otherwise tampers with your carbon monoxide detectors. Additionally, testing your detectors often, at least once or twice a year, can ensure that you keep you and your family safe. Change batteries as needed or when you do your checks, whether or not your landlord provides batteries.
Contact an Ocala Brain Injury Lawyer
If you have suffered an acquired brain injury as a result of another person’s negligence, you need an experienced brain injury lawyer handling your case. Contact dedicated Ocala brain injury lawyer John Piccin at the Piccin & Glynn today at 352-558-8480 to schedule a free consultation. We are prepared to assist you in recovering adequate compensation for your injuries.