SILENT DEATH LURKS FOR PLEASURE BOATERS

SF Chronicle ^ | 7/18/03 | Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer

[randita]

Folsom, Sacramento County -- Mike Farr dived off a friend's ski boat into Lake Folsom moments after his 11-year-old son sank below the churning waters while bodysurfing in the vessel's wake.

"I swam as deep as I could and as far as I could," said Farr, his voice cracking. "I expected to catch an arm, but there was nothing."

[budwiesest]

Thanks for posting this. I was under the impression that he was being pulled on one of those floats that are dragged behind a boat. This happened about fifteen minutes from where I live.

[Space Wrangler]

Farr admits his son might be alive today had he been wearing a vest, as required by California law in most circumstances. But he didn't think it necessary because his son was a good swimmer, and the gear would have interfered with the teak surfing.

No, the cause of death was drowning. It always is. The only cases I know of actual cause of death by CO2 poisoning, is on houseboats or cruisers where people are asleep and unaware of the CO2 presence. The lifejacket DEFINITELY would have saved his life.

[alisasny]

He passed out from the gas and THEN drowned. He would not have drowned with the vest and a chance to rescue him was missed.

[clamper1797]

It is illegal to pull ANYONE adult of child = It is illegal to pull ANYONE ... adult or child

[Teacher317]

45 deaths nationwide since 1990

3.4 deaths per year? And this is a "dirty little secret" crisis? More people die from hair dryer accidents than boating CO. Maybe we need to remove all wiring from every home!

[Wonder Warthog]

"You're right, CO is heavier than air and most of the time boats are moving. Lastly, if you're on the ocean there is almost always wind blowing."

Sorry, but not. The molecular weight of CO is 28 (C=12, O=16), as is N2 (N=14), while that of O2 is 32. If there is a concentration buildup, it is either because of an enclosed space, or because kinetic mixing hasn't dispersed the source cloud--not because "CO is heavier than air".

[spunkets]

Thanks.

I'm guessing you got that from the web...

"M.W. = 28.01; 42.88% C, 57.12% O "

They gave the MW for N₂. It should read:
M.W. = 22; 27.4% C, 72.7% O

[cinFLA]

At least the writer (unlike you) correctly identified CO, not CO2.

[Timmy]

Tragic. But the guy is a moron and is primarily responsible for letting his 11-year old do this without a vest. Lakes are dangerous. Period.

[cinFLA]

Figures you would support anything that smacks of fascism. There's no act of statism that you won't embrace, is there?

Sounds like your kids need some protection; from you.

[thepainster]

Carbon Monoxide "poisoning" is actually kind of a misnomer. You really aren't poisoned in a classic sense. You actually die from suffocation. The reason it happens is that CO has a much higher affinity to bid with the hemoglobin in you red blood cells that oxygen. As you breath in CO it easily displaces most of the oxygen in your blood. The sneaky part about it is you don't even know it is happening. CO by itself is oderless and tastless.

In addition you do not have a shortness of breath or feeling you need to breath more. This is because the internal trigger mechanism for breathing is not the loss of oxygen in your blood but the build up of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in you blood. The CO2 does not build up because you blow it off normally as you are breathing in the CO.

[tdadams]

Who's going to enforce your jack-booted thuggery? If you think you've got some domain over me and my family, bring it on, you fascist.

[thepainster]

woops....bid=bind

[theFIRMbss]

>3.4 deaths per year? And this is a "dirty little secret" crisis? More people die from hair dryer accidents than boating CO

Many times I see
joggers along busy streets,
and I wonder if

breathing heavy in
all that car exhaust might cause
subtle, long-term hurt...

[ikka]

outdoor CO poisoning from boat exhaust has caused or contributed to more than 45 deaths nationwide since 1990, which is as far back as investigators have searched for past incidents.

OK, this is responsible for less than 3 deaths a year, nationwide, in a country with over 200 million population. And this requires a set of restrictive laws?

[Space Wrangler]

My fault. At least I don't have an agenda.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

An autopsy after the accident on May 28 revealed the boy had been knocked out by carbon monoxide fumes and then drowned...

[cinFLA]

Sounds like just another excuse for a liberal newspaper to put the kibosh on anything that's fun.

Why do you consider it "fun" for children to die?

Officials from the Sacramento (Calif.) Metro Fire Department ran a CO test on a late-model motorboat with a properly tuned engine during light-breeze conditions at Folsom Lake. Thirty seconds after the engine was started, the CO level in the air around the boat's transom was 200 parts per million (ppm). After less than a minute, the reading had climbed to 990 ppm. According to the World Health Organization, a level exceeding 87 ppm during a 15-minute interval is considered dangerous.

[cinFLA]

Figures you would support anything that smacks of fascism. There's no act of statism that you won't embrace, is there?

Huh? Boating safety is supporting facism? You are REALLY sick out of it.

[tdadams]

Why do you consider it "fun" for children to die?

Oh, yeah, that's just what I said, didn't I? I just love seeing children die.

LOL! You must put great effort into being such a moron. You have all the veracity of a trial lawyer working on contingency.