“We responded to an EMS call for an unresponsive female,” said Seth Martin, Paramedic and Lieutenant for the Ketchum, Idaho, Fire Department. “Upon entering the residence our new ToxiRAE 3 almost instantly started alarming. It was the first time it had since we placed it in service approximately a month ago. The first reaction was that we must have bumped it or something; then we looked at the readout: 430 parts-per-million (ppm) of carbon monoxide. This clued us into an immediate danger to life and health (IDLH) environment, and we rapidly removed the female, her husband, and ourselves from the home. It ended up saving her life and his life, and kept us safe. They were both evacuated by life-flight to a hyperbaric chamber.”
“The compact and lightweight ToxiRAE 3 CO has traditionally been deployed in industrial applications,” said Bill Jackson, RAE Systems’ vice president of marketing. “We are pleased to see our life-saving products used by paramedics too.”
The compact, handheld monitor is designed to clip to a paramedic’s First-In bag to provide situational awareness about the presence of carbon monoxide, a toxic gas that is the by-product of incomplete combustion and can be found in homes with defective furnaces and those using stoves for heating with improper ventilation. The instrument includes a large easy-to-read display for both toxic gas concentration and days remaining for the battery. It has a loud 96dB audible alarm, bright red flashing LEDs and a vibration alarm. It operates over an extended temperature range of -4 degrees Fahrenheit to +140 degrees Fahrenheit making it ideal for year round deployment.
The ToxiRAE 3 is available from RAE Systems Authorized Distributors at prices starting at $179 for a single unit. It is also available through the NY State HIRE (Hazardous Incident Response Equipment) Contract at discounted prices.
