Hey kids, sorry I am a day late on the report, but I was busy doing some fact checking and follow up on some events of the past weekend and prior years.
In case you hadn’t heard, over the weekend two Minnesota Junior Hockey League teams, players, coaches, fans and family members were hospitalized due to carbon monoxide poisoning. 81 people were treated for varying effects of the odorless, colorless poison gas emissions of the ice re-resurfacing equipment.
Now normally my shtick is to be a little edgy and sarcastic, but this is serious news here, and its a serious ongoing problem throughout the entire world.
Those good old resurfacing machines, brand names omitted due to threats of lawsuits, are the direct causes of multiple mass and individual instances of poisonings.
As far back as 1996 there have been complaints and publicized instances of people having to go to the emergency room due to being poisoned. That’s right folks, its getting close to 20 years that people have been aware of these problems.
Without proper arena ventilation, or without using a battery operated ice re-surfacing machine, you are being exposed to significant levels of carbon monoxide and micro particles that have no way of escaping the interior of the arena.
Would you volunteer to stand in your garage with the care running for 12 minutes? That’s the average time for an ice re-surfacing to take place. Probably not. You could, depending on the size of the garage, the age of the car and other factors, be unconscious within 12 minutes.
Within that time you could also experience blood poisoning, lung or brain damage among other health issues.
Minnesota, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the only three States that have made carbon monoxide alarms mandatory in ice arenas. Nearly 20 years and only three states have taken the simple step to enact a law to protect its citizens from a recreational activity.
A Carbon Monoxide detector costs about $30, sometimes a real good one can go for $100. Yep, that’s it. You pay $250 an hour or more for ice and your arenas don’t lay out the money equal to a few pizzas to protect you from harm while you are in the rink.
Even better is when an arena says they are STAR Certified and they don’t have the detectors and in their certification they are told to have them and warned about the poison gas effects.
So, the next time you’re in an arena, ask them if they have carbon monoxide alarms. If they don’t, ask them why not. Better yet, spend the few bucks yourself and take one into the arena yourself and see if it goes off.
If you really want to send a message how about telling the arena you will no longer play there unless they put in the proper safety equipment.
This is a serious issue. 81 people on Saturday night alone. What if one had died? What if one were permanently injured? What if you or your child is the next person poisoned?
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I salute You
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
