Sprue launches national carbon monoxide safety campaign

Home safety product developer and supplier Sprue Aegis announced the launch of its 2017 national campaign aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The AIM-traded company described Project SHOUT as a national campaign created to raise awareness of both the life threatening dangers of CO poisoning, and its solution to protect families in the UK.

It said the Project SHOUT campaign would feature across both print and broadcast media, and was supported by Sprue's FireAngel, AngelEye and First Alert Safety products.

“Project SHOUT is a campaign with an extremely important cause, motivated by the tragic story of Stacey Rodgers who lost her son Dominic to CO poisoning,” said executive chairman Graham Whitworth.

“Sprue is seeking to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide, as well as the simple and low cost measures that can be put in place to protect ourselves.”

In researching for the campaign, Sprue said it compiled a report which tracked the number of patients who were treated in accident and emergency with suspected CO poisoning.

The results reportedly showed that there had been an increase in the number of cases among those aged under 18 since 2015, with more than 500 cases reported in the last 12 months alone.

It said estimates suggested approximately 50 people die each year from CO poisoning with thousands more being treated in hospital.

The report revealed that while overall cases of suspected CO poisoning were on the rise, children remained more susceptible than adults, with a 211%. increase in child-related cases in East Anglia since 2015, for example.

Sprue said carbon monoxide is produced when fuel does not burn properly, usually from badly fitted or poorly maintained appliances.

Common sources of CO are gas and oil boilers, gas hobs and fires, log burners, open fires and BBQs.