The Department of Health on Monday warned against the use of generators indoors due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the statement after a retired policeman and his daughter died after using a generator in their house in Albay.
“During the last typhoon there were families in Region 5 who placed generator sets inside their houses. And this had affected the family, resulting in death of some of their family members,” Vergeire said in a virtual press briefing.
She says generators emit carbon monoxide.
“Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in our body. That that is why we have fatal outcomes like this.,” Vergeire said.
She warned that the gas was odorless and could not be seen, so people were not immediately alerted to the danger. Generators should be kept 20 feet away from the house.
Instead of generators, she suggested the use of battery-powered equipment during times of calamity when there is no supply of electricity.
Her department earlier said that people who experience headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion or vomiting when using generators should proceed to a health facility.
The Bureau of Fire Protection is investigating the death of the two people in Tiwi, Albay, over the weekend after they used a generator in their home.
The fire marshal of Tiwi said the family members, who were taken to the hospital, might have suffocated because of the generator’s carbon monoxide emissions.
The town still has no electricity after the onslaught of super Typhoon “Rolly.”