A little bit of good news right here to brighten your day:
Dr. John Zaso is also a volunteer firefighter (because of course) who was called to check on a sick baby in the Long Island hamlet of East Meadow.
Zaso said he got an urgent call from the mother of a 3-week-old infant patient of his late Monday night. The mother said her baby appeared sick and mentioned that a number of the family members in their house had started feeling sick within the past several hours. Fourteen people, all related, were living in the home.
Zaso suspected carbon monoxide, so he immediately told the mother to get everyone out of the house and call 911.
She told him she would, but after Zaso did not hear anything from 911 dispatch on his emergency radio, he called the mother back.
"I said ‘get out of the house now' in some colorful language," Zaso said. "I then called and had the fire department dispatched to the scene."
The way I read it is that this woman was dragging her feet to respond to what was a serious emergency and this doc kicked her family's rears into gear.
And it was an emergency:
Zaso helped dispatch first responders from the East Meadow Fire Department, along with Nassau County's ambulance bureau and police. He also went to the scene himself. He and his team found deadly levels of carbon monoxide in areas of the family's home.
"Without any protection, within 30 seconds you're disoriented and unconscious at that level," Zaso said, regarding how toxic the basement air had become.
Thirty seconds.
That's how fast carbon monoxide can knock you unconscious (go check your CO detectors right now because you know you haven't checked them in forever).
Because of Zaso's quick response, no one died. Eleven of the 14 people in the home were hospitalized to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Zaso said had he not followed up, the family of 14 likely would have gone to bed and died in their sleep.
