Appleton mother worried about carbon monoxide at her son’s elementary school, so she advocated for detectors to be installed in schools

“Ashley Wilson couldn’t shake the worry of her son getting carbon monoxide poisoning at school.

It may not be the first concern that comes to mind when a parent thinks about their child at school, but for Wilson, the worry was warranted.

In February 2020, her family suffered carbon monoxide poisoning after the boiler in their former apartment was leaking. There was no detector installed to indicate the presence of the colorless, odorless, potentially deadly, gas.

She would try to reassure herself that the schools were safe but decided she needed to reach out after she heard news about 17 people being sent to the hospital after carbon monoxide levels reached dangerously high levels in a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee dorm.

To Wilson’s surprise, the Appleton Area School District told her there aren’t detectors in any of the school buildings.

State law doesn’t require them in schools, but it does require them on every level of Wisconsin homes. According to the state Department of Health Services, carbon monoxide poisoning sends about 500 Wisconsinites to the emergency room each year…”

Appleton schools to add carbon monoxide detectors following mom’s plea (postcrescent.com)