York County emergency responders, PMC aim to fight carbon monoxoide poisoning

York County emergency officials are hoping to raise awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Rock Hill’s Piedmont Medical Center has teamed up with York County fire departments and emergency personnel, with the Jeffrey Lee Williams Foundation, in the York County Carbon Monoxide Safety Project.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and deadly gas. Common symptoms of poisoning include headache, weakness, dizziness, vomiting, confusion and chest pain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The safety project said it aims to provide 2,000 carbon monoxide alarms for residential homes to the 18 York County fire departments, 45 portable monitors to first responders and 27 hand-held fingertip diagnostic monitors to emergency departments.

The Jeffrey Lee Williams Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to spread awareness of carbon monoxide dangers and the importance of detectors.

The foundation is named for Jeffrey Lee Williams, 11, who died in a hotel in June 2013 due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The hotel room did not have a functioning carbon monoxide detector, according to the foundation.

The detection devices will be given to the York County Fire Department, Piedmont Medical Center Emergency Medical Services, Fort Mill Rescue and River Hills EMS.

The carbon monoxide detectors will benefit multiple communities: Bethany-Santiago, Clover, Bethel, Smyrna, Hickory Grove, Sharon, Bullock Creek, York, McConnells, Bethesda, Oakdale, Lesslie, Rock Hill, Newport, Tega Cay, Riverview, Fort Mill and Flint Hill.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 2:30 PM with the headline "York County emergency responders, PMC aim to fight carbon monoxoide poisoning."