Boat Safety - 2 young girls suffer CO poisoning on boat

[jhynesrockmtn]

My buddy is a volunteer EMT where we camp a lot in N Idaho on Priest Lake. This happened right before we arrived Thursday. Two young girls on the ski platform of their boat succumbed to CO poisoning. Luckily they were wearing floatation devices or they both would be dead. The family ran the boat on the beach at a popular resort and luckily there was a Doc and EMT at the place. The ambulance was their quickly. The younger girl was airlifted to the larger trauma center in Spokane. She may have some long term damage. She was found face down vs. the older sister who was face up. Hopefully both of these babies live long and healthy lives.

https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/bonner-county/2-young-girls-recovering-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-priest-lake/293-bd7b5fa1-af52-4f1d-90cd-3d404e664927?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral

[masraum]

Wow, horrible!

How did that happen? It doesn't sound like they were in an enclosed area.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Originally Posted by masraum

Wow, horrible!

How did that happen? It doesn't sound like they were in an enclosed area.

Inboard surf boat that has the exhaust exiting just above the water line in the rear. The girls were sitting on the swim platform and the conditions must have just right. No wind, either at idle or slowly moving. My friend said some other kids on the boat saw them floating.

[berettafan]

a good warning for all with those inboards. i know even with an outboard in the right conditions you can get a bit lightheaded. used to run into that when i had curtains up on my center console winter trolling.

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by masraum

Wow, horrible!

How did that happen? It doesn't sound like they were in an enclosed area.

when a boat with a rear platform idles and is not moving the exhaust bubbles out right below the deck. back in the day when I was water skiing regularly if you sat back there on a tournament type boat putting on your ski even for a minute or so you could get a bit woozy.

parent should have been more aware. I hope they are OK.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by juanbenae

when a boat with a rear platform idles and is not moving the exhaust bubbles out right below the deck. back in the day when I was water skiing regularly if you sat back there on a tournament type boat putting on your ski even for a minute or so you could get a bit woozy.

parent should have been more aware. I hope they are OK.

I think the parents should no longer be boating.

How do you let your kids sit on the platform next to the exhaust? Did they think the water, cleaned it?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

I think the parents should no longer be boating.

How do you let your kids sit on the platform next to the exhaust? Did they think the water, cleaned it?

The bottom line is that I'm sure they were not aware. They should have been but it's not like they put their kids in harms way intentionally. There are so many potential pitfalls with kids...it's amazing that many of us made it this far.