To mark Maritime Safety Week 2021, which was 5-10^th July, Jersey Coastguard staff shared informative videos on the Ports of Jersey’s inaugural podcast channel. They featured three episodes highlighting maritime safety, including an interview with Jersey resident Margaret Jeffery – whose husband died of carbon-monoxide poisoning on board his boat in Jersey in 2017.  We were delighted that our own President, Stephanie Trotter, was also invited to contribute to this podcast, as well as Chris Robinson from Jersey Coastguard.

Margaret kindly supports CO-Gas Safety and allowed us to share his story as one of our case studies, which can be found here

The Ports of Jersey podcast can be found here: https://portsofjersey.podbean.com/e/the-dangers-of-carbon-monoxide/

Other Jersey Maritime Safety Week events included a two-day public roadshow to highlight a series of sea-safety messages.  the harbour authorities and many others in Jersey are also kindly featuring a competition that CO-Gas Safety have launched for Jersey Young People aged 5-18 years old, details of which can be found here

Please read https://www.streetinsider.com/Reuters/U.S.+regulator+sues+Amazon%2C+demands+recall+of+hazardous+products/18679090.html

This is week three of the #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer campaign!

A special thank you to Barry Sheerman MP for launching the campaign and sharing excellent coverage! https://barrysheerman.co.uk/2021/06/25/carbon-monoxide-safe4summer-campaign/

Thank so much to all those who have been supporting us on social media. There has been some excellent campaign recognition this week, the APPCOG was delighted to see #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer supported by Visit England Biz, the National Care Association and various camping and tourist organisations. This is down to the hard work of all those sharing messages and taking part in supporting activities – let’s keep up the good work!

Please keep using the hashtag #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer and tagging @APPCOG_UK so we can maximise our impact.

You can download the full Asset Kit here: https://www.unitedagainstco.com/cosafe4summer

*NB – on Twitter re-tweets help the campaign more than ‘likes’, this expands the reach of the post so we can engage with more people and organisations. If you are happy to re-tweet please do so!

SESSION 2 – 11:30 – 13:00 Stream 2 – Carbon Monoxide

Chair – Chris Bielby, Chair of Gas Safety Trust

GISGCO Alarms Enquiry Speaker Laura Fatah

The effect of CO exposure on pregnant women and the unborn child Speaker Hilary Wareing, Director, Improving Performance in Practice (iPiP)

The effect of CO exposure on older people Speaker Beth Cheshire, PhD Student, Faculty of Health and Medicine’s Centre4Ageing, Lancaster University

Title TBC Speaker Dr Julie Connolly, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moore’s University

Why testing for CO matters Speaker Stephanie Trotter OBE, President & Director of CO-Gas Safety

Stephanie will be adding the PPP she gave but meanwhile if you’d rather read it do email her and ask her to send it to you

Email is:- office@co-gassafety.co.uk

For the whole session see Session 2B – Carbon Monoxide https://vimeo.com/561336772/260a0d074d

Northeast Ohio couple spreading awareness of boating dangers after losing son to carbon monoxide poisoning

Seven year old Afton Taylor died in 2019 after carbon monoxide poisoning on a routine boat trip: his parents want to warn others

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/oh-stark/northeast-ohio-couple-spreading-awareness-of-boating-dangers-after-losing-son-to-carbon-monoxide-poisoning

Similar to:-

Boy, 9, poisoned by carbon monoxide before slipping into lake after sitting at back of family’s boat ‘for most of day’

By Brinkwire on September 23, 2020

https://en.brinkwire.com/news/boy-9-poisoned-by-carbon-monoxide-before-slipping-into-lake-after-sitting-at-back-of-familys-boat-for-most-of-day/

There have been more than 140 similar fatalities since 2000, says a 2014 report.

We have heard from a couple who were poisoned by CO in a BBQ hut they bought from a local plant nursery. The couple felt ill and later used a CO alarm with a digital read out which registered CO. We recommend that any BBQ should be used outdoors only.

Huge thanks to Margaret Jeffery, Emma, journalist Rod & the Jersey Evening Post for this article.

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2021/02/16/widows-campaign-highlights-dangers-of-carbon-monoxide/

News

Widow’s campaign highlights dangers of carbon monoxide

By Rod McLoughlin News Published: Less than an hour ago Last Updated: Less than an hour ago

THE widow of a man killed by carbon-monoxide poisoning has launched a campaign in Jersey schools to raise awareness of the dangers posed by the gas.

The scene of the incident in February 2017 which was attended by paramedics, police and the coastguard. Picture: ROB CURRIE. (30237318)

On the fourth anniversary of her husband Ken’s death, Margaret Jeffery has joined forces with UK charity CO-Gas Safety to warn primary school children of the dangers posed by carbon monoxide.

‘I thought that a good place to start would be educating children because, as a retired primary school teacher, I’m aware that children are very good at educating their parents and nagging them. A distribution company in the UK, Cadent Gas, has made a fantastic offer to extend their educational videos and activity packs to Jersey. It is a great offer and the kids would love them,’ she said.

Ken Jeffery died of carbon-monoxide poisoning on 16 February 2017 on board his boat in the Old Harbour, an accident which rocked the family.

‘It was totally devastating and the hardest thing to bear was that his death could so easily have been avoided had he and I been aware of the dangers of carbon-monoxide emissions. Sadly, we were not,’ Mrs Jeffery said.

Margaret Jeffery (right) and step daughter Emma Harrison (left) at the Old Harbour. Picture: ROB CURRIE. (30239382)

Following the accident, she gave interviews to the media in an effort to raise awareness of what she believes is a danger that is not widely appreciated by the public.

Mrs Jeffery has since been contacted by Stephanie Mrs Jeffery has since been contacted by Stephanie Trotter, president of the Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society, a UK charity devoted to campaigning for greater awareness of the dangers of the gas and promoting the use of detectors which could save lives.

‘Stephanie put me in touch with Philip Burrows, who is the customer vulnerability programmes delivery manager at Cadent Gas in the UK. Although Jersey is not part of Cadent’s Network he has very generously offered our schools the opportunity to benefit from the exciting programmes which they have created. It is a free scheme so I think we are extremely fortunate and I would love to see our schools take up this offer,’ Mrs Jeffery said.

The resources were developed initially in UK classrooms by an arts worker who created a character called Safety Seymour, aimed at children from six to eight, who appears in a series of cartoons that highlight the dangers of carbon monoxide and the places it could be found in the home.

A series of films using actors presents a similar message to children aged ten and 11 which can be used in the classroom or by parents at home. The two presentations are available at safetyseymour.co.uk and thecocrew.co.uk.

Mrs Jeffery is now writing to all primary schools in the Island to ask them to show the films and provide information to their pupils. She hopes it will make something positive of her own experience.

‘I wanted to do something on Ken’s anniversary so that people reading something about it happening to an Islander – quite possibly someone they knew because a lot of people knew Ken – might take a bit more notice of this,’ Mrs Jeffery said.

Further coverage: page eight of today’s [16 February] JEP.