Author Heidi Bergmann-Schoch is a United States Concealed Carry Association multi-discipline instructor and Training Counselor (instructor-trainer), as well as a multi-discipline instructor for the NRA and a Chief Range Safety Officer. Public Safety orientated, she has served working nights as a Nationally Registered Paramedic and a Police Officer working patrol, training and handling a Patrol/Narcotics K-9 and an adjunct Tactical Officer. She does some of her best work in the dark. Spending a good part of her life breaking, training, and showing horses, she understands the art of compromise and the benefits of Advil. She can usually be found on her farm with her husband and a plethora of animals, as well as plenty of bees.

We all have various types of exhaust pipes and flues that we rarely think about. They do the unseen work of removing toxic by-products of combustion and keep us healthy and on the green side of the grass.

Then a winter snowstorm arrives and things get REAL. Your car sits idling in the driveway. Your furnace or boiler is working overtime to keep your house warm and maybe your water hot. The woodstove is burning comfortably, adding both ambiance and heat, making things that much comfier. But where are all those by-products going?

The snow is building up outside and it’s blowin’ a gale out there. Time to head to the store for that last quart of milk, loaf of bread and dozen eggs and that car has to be warm! You’ve cleaned the windows and doors, but did you check the tailpipe? You hear the throaty sound of your car as it’s running and distractedly think it never used to be that way, but it sounds kind of sexy. You jump in, notice a bit of an odor but nothing will stop you from that French Toast recipe. By the time you’re halfway to the store, you’ve got a ripping headache, nausea, are dizzy and the road is getting fuzzy.

Undeterred, you continue on….. To wake up in the hospital scheduled to be transferred ASAP to a bariatric chamber to remove the carbon monoxide from your blood. Seems that the snow drifted around your vehicle and blocked the exhaust from leaving the pipe freely. It accumulated under your car and, along with the leaking system, that cool “throaty, sexy noise”, filled the interior with toxins composed of mostly carbon monoxide. That’s monoxide, not the dioxide stuff that puts the fizz in your Pepsi.

When it comes to snow, things can get tricky around your home. Newer homes have exhaust vents in locations that can cause problems. Close to the ground, tucked into a corner, snow can build up unnoticed. High efficiency heating systems expel gases at cooler temperatures so it’s easier for snow at even moderate rates to build up. Find your furnace exhaust pipe and if it’s low, dig it out and keep it cleared.

That cozy fireplace can also be deadly. What can cause it to be a risk and not a benefit? If the top of your chimney isn’t screened, young birds can be inquisitive and fall down the pipe, getting stuck along the way. One more follows it’s sibling and then there’s NOTHING getting through. Some configurations invite older birds to nest, which causes the same scenario. Light your first fire and you better consider donating to your local fire department! A blocked chimney can cause a fire AND keep the toxic gases from exiting.

Your fire is burning low and the wind is whipping outside. You smell a little smoke and think how nice it is. But it continues, little by little. Seems the wind gusts are causing a backdraft down the chimney, forcing that evil carbon monoxide into the room. Time to either crank that fire up or put it out!

Here’s a few other reminders to keep your lips from turning that brilliant cherry red color (a strong sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, that you won’t see because you’ll likely be unconscious!)

• NEVER leave your vehicle idling when the exhaust pipe or underside is blocked.
• NEVER use a camp stove in the house.
• NEVER use a generator in an enclosed area (like the garage, even with the door open).
• NEVER use a propane powered heater inside the house.
• NEVER use a gas kitchen stove for heat..
• NEVER light your fireplace or woodstove at the beginning of the heating season without checking the chimney.

• ALWAYS keep the batteries in your CO and Smoke detectors fresh. Change them when the clocks change and replace the detectors themselves every 10 years.
• ALWAYS leave an enclosed area if you suddenly develop a severe headache, nausea and dizziness and carbon monoxide may be present.
• ALWAYS leave immediately with your pets when a carbon monoxide alarm activates and call 911. Do not ventilate as the fire department will need to take readings to find the source.