Responding to Residential Carbon Monoxide Incidents (Guidelines for Fire and Other Emergency Response Personnel)

This guide has been developed for use by public emergency response organizations such as professional and volunteer and fire departments, emergency community service units, and other organizations delegated to respond to carbon monoxide (CO) incident calls; it is not directed toward non-emergency organizations that might receive CO incident calls.

These guideline consist or procedures that emergency response personnel can use to help residents who call and report a suspected CO incident. The procedures are designed to help responders provide for their own safety when answering a call, determine the level of care needed by the residents, make a preliminary assessment of the CO condition in the residence, and determine when it is safe for occupants to re-enter the home. These procedure can help in finding a significant source of CO in the home.