TCHB
06-06-2003, 08:14 AM
1. Do not sit on the back of the boat while engine is running for a period of time.
2. Do not sit on the swim step while engine is running.
3. Do not stay on a inner tube (20 feet) or closer behind the boat while idling along.
CO linked to holiday channel drowning
Health director: Carbon monoxide secondary cause
By Brian Wedemeyer
As Lake Havasu City continues to analyze the problem, carbon monoxide has officially been linked to a drowning in Bridgewater Channel over Memorial Day weekend.
Mohave County Health Director Patti Mead confirmed Thursday that a medical examiner has listed carbon monoxide as a secondary cause of death in the drowning of 31-year-old Mark Tostado of Huntington Beach, Calif. His blood-alcohol level also was a contributing factor, Mead said.
Recreational divers found Tostado’s body May 28 near the east bank of the channel south of the London Bridge. Mead also confirmed that the carbon monoxide level in Tostado’s blood was measured at 47 percent — well above federal safety limits.
In April, the city hired Sonoma Technology, Inc. of Petaluma, Calif. to complete an air quality evaluation in the channel. A final report isnÂ’t expected until the end of summer.
On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to consider a change in the evaluationÂ’s scope of work to include a greater level of public information, said Charlie Cassens, city spokesman.
“This is not just a Lake Havasu City problem,” Cassens said. “All boaters need to be educated that exhaust from boats can kill you.”
The council agreed to take action after a report issued last December by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health surfaced in February. Some preliminary tests taken by NIOSH in the channel last Labor Day weekend found carbon monoxide concentrations above recommended safety limits. In addition, four of 13 patients who reported to the emergency room at Havasu Regional Medical Center that same weekend had high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood, according to the report.
At the council’s direction, the city posted three signs in the channel prior to Memorial Day weekend warning boaters about potential health risks. In addition, several thousand flyers were passed out to boaters at three major launch areas — Site Six, the Lake Havasu Marina and Windsor Beach State Park.
The city is currently developing a warning pamphlet more specific to Lake Havasu, Cassens said.
“These incidences of carbon monoxide poisoning are typically caused by a single boat,” Cassens said. “It is not necessarily the air in the channel where there are a lot of boats.”
TostadoÂ’s older sister, Beverly Ross of Costa Mesa, Calif., said the city should have taken more aggressive action prior to the busy weekend. Ross said Tostado was a personal trainer who once served in Bosnia as an Army reservist.
“... especially if this is something they thought might be an issue before then,” Ross said. “How can I be happy about them doing something now when my brother is dead?”
Another California man drowned in the channel over Memorial Day weekend in 2002. Although 20-year-old Justin WhitneyÂ’s death certificate makes no mention of carbon monoxide, his family is convinced it was a major factor. His older sister, Jessica, lost consciousness just minutes before Whitney was pulled from the water. She said they were wading in the water near a boat that had its engine running. They had been in the channel for less than an hour.
“I think this kind of thing is happening a lot more than people realize,” said Whitney’s father, David, in a recent interview with Today’s News-Herald. “They think people are partying too hard and get sick. I think there is more to it than that.”
In 2001, 22-year-old Susan Bates of Cypress, Calif. drowned in Thompson Bay just south of the channel. Investigators suspected Bates drew in fumes from the boat exhaust because of carbon monoxide detected during the autopsy. Bates also reportedly had been drinking before taking a dip in the water.
You may contact the reporter at bwedemeyer@havasunews.com
2. Do not sit on the swim step while engine is running.
3. Do not stay on a inner tube (20 feet) or closer behind the boat while idling along.
CO linked to holiday channel drowning
Health director: Carbon monoxide secondary cause
By Brian Wedemeyer
As Lake Havasu City continues to analyze the problem, carbon monoxide has officially been linked to a drowning in Bridgewater Channel over Memorial Day weekend.
Mohave County Health Director Patti Mead confirmed Thursday that a medical examiner has listed carbon monoxide as a secondary cause of death in the drowning of 31-year-old Mark Tostado of Huntington Beach, Calif. His blood-alcohol level also was a contributing factor, Mead said.
Recreational divers found Tostado’s body May 28 near the east bank of the channel south of the London Bridge. Mead also confirmed that the carbon monoxide level in Tostado’s blood was measured at 47 percent — well above federal safety limits.
In April, the city hired Sonoma Technology, Inc. of Petaluma, Calif. to complete an air quality evaluation in the channel. A final report isnÂ’t expected until the end of summer.
On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to consider a change in the evaluationÂ’s scope of work to include a greater level of public information, said Charlie Cassens, city spokesman.
“This is not just a Lake Havasu City problem,” Cassens said. “All boaters need to be educated that exhaust from boats can kill you.”
The council agreed to take action after a report issued last December by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health surfaced in February. Some preliminary tests taken by NIOSH in the channel last Labor Day weekend found carbon monoxide concentrations above recommended safety limits. In addition, four of 13 patients who reported to the emergency room at Havasu Regional Medical Center that same weekend had high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood, according to the report.
At the council’s direction, the city posted three signs in the channel prior to Memorial Day weekend warning boaters about potential health risks. In addition, several thousand flyers were passed out to boaters at three major launch areas — Site Six, the Lake Havasu Marina and Windsor Beach State Park.
The city is currently developing a warning pamphlet more specific to Lake Havasu, Cassens said.
“These incidences of carbon monoxide poisoning are typically caused by a single boat,” Cassens said. “It is not necessarily the air in the channel where there are a lot of boats.”
TostadoÂ’s older sister, Beverly Ross of Costa Mesa, Calif., said the city should have taken more aggressive action prior to the busy weekend. Ross said Tostado was a personal trainer who once served in Bosnia as an Army reservist.
“... especially if this is something they thought might be an issue before then,” Ross said. “How can I be happy about them doing something now when my brother is dead?”
Another California man drowned in the channel over Memorial Day weekend in 2002. Although 20-year-old Justin WhitneyÂ’s death certificate makes no mention of carbon monoxide, his family is convinced it was a major factor. His older sister, Jessica, lost consciousness just minutes before Whitney was pulled from the water. She said they were wading in the water near a boat that had its engine running. They had been in the channel for less than an hour.
“I think this kind of thing is happening a lot more than people realize,” said Whitney’s father, David, in a recent interview with Today’s News-Herald. “They think people are partying too hard and get sick. I think there is more to it than that.”
In 2001, 22-year-old Susan Bates of Cypress, Calif. drowned in Thompson Bay just south of the channel. Investigators suspected Bates drew in fumes from the boat exhaust because of carbon monoxide detected during the autopsy. Bates also reportedly had been drinking before taking a dip in the water.
You may contact the reporter at bwedemeyer@havasunews.com