In a warning today, INEM (medical emergencies authority) has alerted to the reality of energetic poverty in Portugal (where one in five people are still considered to be living in poverty), warning people against using “forms of heating that are not always safe”.
Among these forms of heating are log fires – the very form of heating that rural households have been using since time immemorial (and which many regard as a winter luxury, far removed from any notion of poverty).
Suddenly log fires are on a par with heating appliances powered by gas, and at risk of intoxicating people with “an invisible, inodorous gas that can lead to death”.
There has never been any argument over gas-powered appliances causing intoxications. They too have been doing this in households since time immemorial. But log fires? There appears to be something else at work here (very possibly encouraged by the lobby for the energetic transition).
Suffice it to say INEM’s warning comes on the back of 28 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning already in Portugal this year (10 more than had taken place by this time last year).
The authority does not go into the details of these cases (but they are unlikely to have been in a typical log fire scenario).
INEM’s advice to people is to:
- Verify the state and maintenance of equipment before using it;
- Avoid using appliances in totally closed spaces;
- Assure adequate ventilation in all rooms where appliances are working;
- Contact 112 or 808 250 250 if you or anyone with you develops a headache, nausea or faints. If this happens, before calling for help, open all doors and windows and try to get the person outside into the open air.
Source: SIC Notícias
