A hotel guest had an alarming experience when their family and pets "nearly died" after they were exposed to carbon monoxide fumes with no warning.
The guest turned to r/legaladvice on Reddit to ask how to handle insurance claims and compensation after he, his wife, and their cats stayed at a hotel and suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from a large pickup truck idling outside their room in the wee hours of the morning as exhaust seeped into the room via the AC unit.
His wife awoke first, and they rushed to the ER, where they were both put on oxygen and test results showed "CO levels and the related indicators were dangerously high and that we could have died basically at any time." They expect high medical bills and are awaiting additional results for one of their two cats that appeared significantly compromised by the exposure.
The hotel moved them to a new room and asked the truck owner to move the vehicle, but the original poster wondered what his recourse was to cover bills and other expenses, especially after learning the room was not equipped with a carbon monoxide detector.
One person noted, "You should've called an ambulance," but the man shared that his wife drove them both to the hospital despite alarmingly high CO levels. Others recommended filing a police report and reaching out to an attorney for more official advice.
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, making it hard to detect when exposed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, "Each year, more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning not linked to fires, more than 100,000 visit the emergency room, and more than 14,000 are hospitalized."
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Many states have requirements for CO detectors in hotels and rentals, including West Virginia, where the incident took place. Not only is this a concern after the unusual truck incident, but any gas-powered heating systems in the building could release CO and other pollutants, which have long-term health effects like asthma. A potential solution, apart from adding detectors, would be upgrading to electric-powered HVAC systems that, besides saving money, don't emit gasses like CO.
The driver who chose to leave their truck running for no apparent reason also unnecessarily released pollution into the environment and surely wasted fuel.
In an update, the guest shared that they've reached out not only to police but the fire marshal as well regarding the CO detector and an attorney. "My hope is that [the hotel doesn't] want the trouble I'm willing to cause over this, and the insurance covers it, but if it doesn't the paperwork is in motion, so to speak."
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