In this riveting episode, we shine a light on the silent and deadly menace known as carbon monoxide. Join us as we delve into the haunting cases of unintentional carbon monoxide deaths that have left families shattered and communities in shock. These stories reveal the devastating consequences of a colorless, odorless gas that strikes without warning. Tune in to learn how these invisible killers claimed their victims, and discover the vital steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones from this deadly threat. * Listener discretion is advised.
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0:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies.
0:08 I'm your host, Julie Mattson.
0:10 Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine tingling, unusual and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
0:24 Do I have some stories for you?
0:26 Are you ready?
0:30 Hey, y'all, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day.
0:34 I know that we still have the heat in Texas that we have had, but it's been a little bit better.
0:40 Thank goodness, we're getting a little bit of what we call a cool front whenever it hits in the nineties and it's not in triple digits.
0:49 But this week I wanted to talk to y'all a little bit about carbon monoxide.
0:53 We see a lot of carbon monoxide related deaths all times a year.
0:59 They're not really specific to certain times of the year.
1:02 Although during natural disasters like hurricanes and those types of things, we do see an increase and also in the winter, we might see a little bit of an increase, but it is a poisonous flammable gas, and it is colorless and it's odorless and it's tasteless.
1:23 It's very hard to detect a lot of people might have been exposed to it and they don't really know until they suddenly become ill.
1:33 Initially, the symptoms of exposure are very similar to the flu and many people ignored those symptoms just like we do when we get a cold.
1:44 You know, it's kind of like, oh, I'm not feeling great.
1:47 I feel like I'm coming down with something just kind of blow it off.
1:51 And then with carbon monoxide exposure, it's going to get gradually worse.
1:57 It's estimated that about 400 people die in the US each year from unintentional carbon monoxide exposure.
2:05 Again, that's going to be basically accidental.
2:08 This does not include those that expose themselves when they're trying to commit suicide.
2:15 But over 300 people visit the, each year for symptoms linked to unintentional carbon monoxide exposure.
2:25 Now, sources in the home that we don't think about are clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces, motor vehicles, gas stoves and ovens, gas and wood fireplaces, grills, generators, lawn equipment, power tools, those types of things.
2:45 I've always kind of personally been afraid of gas.
2:49 I guess growing up our home was all electric.
2:53 We didn't have gas stoves.
2:55 And so I kind of grew up a little nervous around them, I guess because I knew they could be dangerous.
3:02 I've had gas stoves before and gas heat, there's always just that little idea in my head that it could be dangerous and that there could be a leak.
3:13 Of course, that's where the carbon monoxide detectors come in.
3:17 And so I've always had those, especially near the appliance that is gas just to kind of give me a little bit of peace of mind because I know that those will go off if there is any kind of a leak or anything like that.
3:34 Camp stoves, charcoal grills, lanterns, generators, those types of things of course, should never be used inside a tent or a cabin or an RV whenever you're camping.
3:49 But they call it the silent Killer.
3:52 Because again, exposure does feel a lot like flu like symptoms.
3:58 Initially, you might have a mild headache, you might get a little short of breath, become a little dizzy, start feeling some fatigue or like you're really unusually tired, you might get nauseated and then as exposure continues, you may start to experience confusion, irritability, impaired judgment, and then eventually loss of consciousness.
4:23 And then at that point, of course, if you're by yourself, there's really nothing you can do.
4:29 You're not going to remove yourself from the situation because you can't, the exposure is going to continue until they overcome you completely.
4:39 And then you stop breathing.
4:41 I guess the important part is to always take note if everyone in the home is sick with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, like I just mentioned, especially if your pets appear ill.
4:57 And then if you notice that when you leave your home, you feel better because you're breathing clean air then that would be a good indication that you're being exposed to when you're at home.
5:08 And this makes me think of course, with all the hurricanes and all the natural disasters going on and the fires.
5:17 And it just reminds me a lot of hurricane Ike back in 08 in Houston and the Galveston area.
5:28 It left 2.3 million households in the southeastern portion of the state without electricity.
5:35 And mine was one of those I worked for the Harris County Medical Examiner's office back in 08.
5:42 I was there during that time; we had a large amount of carbon monoxide poisonings.
5:50 Now, 54 persons reported storm related carbon monoxide exposure and 82 to 87% of those in the Houston Galveston area back in 08 were related to improper generator use.
6:10 I personally went without electricity for two weeks and I looked into getting a generator.
6:16 But again, it made me so nervous.
6:19 I mean, I lived by myself.
6:22 I know that generators were hard to come by because everyone was buying them.
6:26 No one had power.
6:28 Around 13 people died of carbon monoxide poisoning in Harris County during hurricane Ike.
6:37 Now, the interesting part I think is to find out like postmortem, what kind of changes the body goes through, what helps the pathologists determine that carbon monoxide may be the reason for death.
6:52 And one thing that we noticed is that the skin exhibits like a cherry red color.
6:58 So lividity that we normally see pooling in the dependent areas when someone dies is going to be a red color.
7:07But with carbon monoxide poisoning, it's going to be a bright cherry red.
7:13That is one of the first indications on autopsy, the blood, the organs, and the muscles are also cherry red.
7:20 Those are all the bright red color.
7:23 We might notice some skin blisters; we'll notice some pulmonary edema and that is going to be excess fluid in the lungs and that's usually caused by a heart condition but can also be caused by exposure to toxins or drugs.
7:40 We will notice some pulmonary edema most likely postmortem on the carbon monoxide deaths.
7:47 And then the white matter in the brain is harder than normal and that causes the brain to hold its shape better when it's removed from the skull cavity.
7:57 I just thought that was interesting and that was something that actually, I didn't know and learned in doing my research that white matter of the brain is harder.
8:07 It's going to hold its form.
8:10 Now, some of the deaths that we saw in the Houston area, there were a couple of friends, they worked together, they were living together during the hurricane.
8:20 They were both overcome by fumes from a portable generator that they brought inside their mobile home.
8:27 Now, they were afraid the generator would be stolen.
8:30 And so they brought it inside.
8:31 And of course, during hurricane Ike because of all the risks of storm damage, everyone boarded their windows up.
8:39 The windows were boarded up; they were not able to be open.
8:43 And so of course, that made it even worse.
8:46 One man was found in the bathroom; one man was found in the bathroom, and one was found in the kitchen, and it had been a couple of days before they were found.
8:55 I think 2 to 3 days later, a neighbor had rented them a hotel room, but they stayed at their residence by choice because they were afraid that they might be robbed during the storm.
9:08 And that's another sad part of storms.
9:11 And that's another sad part that we noticed in Houston.
9:16 And it happens everywhere people start to break into things because they feel like the police presence is going to be minimized and their risk of being caught is smaller.
9:27 They try to take advantage of that time by breaking into homes and stealing things.
9:30 That was common as well.
9:32 These men stayed in their home by choice and died because of that.
9:39 Now, remember the case of a four-year-old who died, and this was in northeast Houston and a gas generator was found inside the home near the back door.
9:50 Dad was at work.
9:51 But mom who was this little boy's stepmom and three siblings were also in the home.
9:58 Now, the four-year-old died.
10:00 But actually the mom and the other three siblings survived, which was good.
10:05 But a man, his girlfriend and her half-brother all died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
10:12 In another incident, this family bred pit bulls and two of the dogs were actually found dead.
10:20 We do notice that a lot of the carbon monoxide poisonings is that all the pets in the house are also deceased.
10:28 And that's also a good indication that it's related to carbon monoxide.
10:33 I remember there was a case of an 18-year-old who couldn't be awakened because they had a generator in their apartment.
10:41 A lot of times it's just because people were unaware of the dangers.
10:47 I can remember a case where there was a couple who decided to bring their grill in and cook and they really didn't realize what the risks were.
10:58 It killed both of them because they had their grill in the house and of course, the windows were boarded up.
11:04 This happened frequently during the times of the storm, 54-year-old, you know, went into the garage, and started his emergency generator.
11:14 His family found him unconscious and of course the garage door was down, there was no ventilation.
11:20 So there was no way for him to get any kind of air and he didn't even realize that he was dying.
11:26 Many of the death investigators during hurricane Ike, we stayed at the office, and we boarded up the windows in the office.
11:36 We basically were just waiting for a disaster to strike.
11:39 You can only imagine in Harris County we were super busy outside of deaths related to the storm.
11:47 It was very, very busy.
11:49 I was unable to fly my daughter to Dallas to see her dad.
11:55 She flew back here every other weekend to see him.
11:59 And of course, all the airlines were shut down.
12:02 That wasn't a possibility.
12:04 And I couldn't drive her because number one, the roads, as you can imagine were crazy.
12:10 You couldn't really get anywhere.
12:12 And I wasn't allowed to leave the county because I was considered essential personnel.
12:17 I was basically on call 24/7 just in case they needed me.
12:22 My daughter and I were in a closet in our home when the hurricane blew through.
12:30 I found it funny that she slept through the whole thing, but we were without electricity for about two weeks.
12:36 We stayed with a friend who lived nearby who had electricity and that basically saved us because all the food in our refrigerator was ruined.
12:48 But we lived in a small one-story home kind of nestled amongst a bunch of two stories.
12:54 So our house was kind of protected.
12:56 I think we lost a few shingles and maybe the fence in our backyard blew over or something.
13:01 But nothing compared to some of the other homes around us.
13:05 And we were a little bit protected.
13:07 But so I've worked over the years of multiple carbon monoxide related deaths, and some are accidental.
13:14 But again, some are suicides.
13:17 Now, I know at one time and just a few years ago we had a married couple who went to bed not knowing that there was a leak in their gas heater.
13:27 They both had talked to family members the night before and told them that they weren't feeling well, and they were just unaware of the leak in this home that they were renting.
13:38 And so they went to bed and of course, continued to breathe it in unknowingly and it killed both of them in cases like that where both people are dead.
13:49 And of course, there's no trauma visible.
13:53 That's the first thing that we're going to think.
13:55 And it's very important for us to have the carbon monoxide levels checked by the fire department before we go in there.
14:03 I know I have had somebody before that asphyxiated himself with carbon monoxide in a vehicle and I stuck my head in there to take some pictures and I could tell I got a whiff of it because I was extremely lightheaded.
14:19 It just made me feel terrible.
14:21 Of course, if you feel like you've been exposed, it's important to get fresh air right away.
14:26 And if you're in a home, turn off all the appliances and then just leave as quick as you can, high concentrations of carbon monoxide can actually kill you in less than five minutes.
14:37 Of course, lower concentrations are going to require longer to affect the body.
14:43 And a lot of it has to do with the size of person you are and those types of things, this again is why carbon monoxide alarms are important and it's important to test them monthly and not to use the stove or the dryer or anything like that to heat your home.
15:03 And definitely don't bring a generator or a gas grill in the home or a wood grill in your home to heat your home.
15:14 And of course, right now we're not heating nothing in our houses because it's so hot here.
15:19 I did have another case involving two.
15:21 I say young kids.
15:23 They were around 18 and 19, they had snuck out of their apartment where his mom lived, they had an unattached garage.
15:31 His car was in there.
15:33 They went out there to have relations and it was cold outside.
15:38 Unknowingly they started the car and turned the heat on in the car.
15:43 Now, hours later, mom couldn't find them.
15:46 She went into the garage and both of them were naked in the driver's seat of this two-door car.
15:54 Now, it was hard to get them out because the apartment garages were kind of small in a two-door car.
16:02 The doors are longer.
16:04 You couldn't really open the door all the way.
16:07 They were very hard to separate because they had been there for several hours and rigor was starting to set in super hard to get them out of the vehicle.
16:17 And of course, we were unable to move the car because they were in the driver's seat.
16:23 I can remember that.
16:24 Just devastating.
16:25 I mean, they were young and really again, just weren't aware, you know, they were trying to get a little time to themselves and had snuck out there and because it was called, started the car and you don't really think about it again because it's colorless.
16:39 It's odorless.
16:40 They had no idea.
16:42 I can remember another case.
16:45 It was an older gentleman and he had dementia.
16:48 He had come home, pulled his truck into the garage, put his garage door down, but he forgot and left his truck running.
16:59 He was later found deceased in his home by family when they were unable to reach him by phone.
17:08 I know I felt so bad because he had dementia and just simply forgot to turn his car off and probably got sidetracked and went in the house and started doing something and he left the door from the garage to the home open, but the garage door was down.
17:24 All those fumes as the truck were running, filled up his home and eventually killed him.
17:30 It's funny because my husband calls himself, my content manager.
17:33 He always gives me ideas on things to talk about.
17:36 And I think it's mostly maybe things that he's interested in and wants to hear about.
17:41 But there are some community programs that offer free carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
17:48 And so if you're in a position where you're unable to afford one or both of those, you can usually go through your local fire department, and they can help set you up with free ones.
18:01 Now, some smoke detectors are combinations, smoke, and carbon monoxide, but not all of them are carbon monoxide detectors.
18:11 Does not take the place of a smoke detector.
18:13 It's important to have both in your home.
18:16 And again, you can usually get those free in most communities through the fire department.
18:22 I'm not going to promise you if you go to your local fire department and ask for a carbon monoxide detector that they're going to give you one because all communities are different, but it is an option in most places.
18:34 So here in Texas, we're definitely not dealing with having to bring our grills in to keep our house warm.
18:42 But I was just thinking last week or a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the fires in Maui and all the disasters that are happening.
18:52 It just reminded me of IKE and all the hardships that families were going through during that time.
18:59 And I know that different parts of the country are going through different things always.
19:03 But I always put on my Facebook page every year when winter starts to roll around.
19:10 I can note from your friendly death investigator.
19:13 Don't bring your girl in to try to heat your home keep your kids warm.
19:17 It's just important not to do that because you are going to get exposed, and the outcome is never good again.
19:26 I hope y'all's Labor Day was amazing and everyone stayed safe and partially cool.
19:33 I always encourage you to shoot me an email at Julie at pushinguplilies.com.
19:40 I'll be glad to listen to your stories and maybe look a little bit further into them and have them on the next episode.
19:47 I would love to hear from you.
19:50 Y'all.
19:50 Have an amazing week and stay tuned next Wednesday for the next episode.
19:56 Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies.
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