The Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, worked with WBFF-TV FOX45 in Baltimore on a public service announcement (PSA) to educate area residents on how to prevent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning in the United States, killing more than 2,100 people per year.
Faculty and staff from the Injury Center worked with FOX 45 on the script and video production of the PSA, which will air on the station through March as the risk of CO poisoning rises during the winter months. Already in December there have been two high-profile CO incidents in Baltimore, one at a daycare center and another in a home in which two occupants died.
The PSA instructs viewers on the importance of having CO-burning appliances serviced annually, and offers information on how to properly install CO detectors. As a call-to-action, viewers are asked to contact the Center’s Mobile Safety Center to learn about how to bring additional safety information and education to their next neighborhood event.
The CO prevention PSA is the second one developed in partnership with FOX; the first focused on indoor drowning risks for young children.
