A few weeks after we moved in, an alarm sounded. It was beepy and very annoying, but it was not the fire alarm. Being a jumpy sort, especially about unfamiliar beepy noises, I sort of freaked out and roamed the house seeking the source.

Finally, I discovered a little white thingy on the wall. What was this thingy? By now, the noise was driving me bats and I was not thinking clearly. However, a few moments later, my brain finally said: I BET THIS IS A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR.

It was a separate device from the smoke detector, and I was unfamiliar. Anyway. I called the fire department and the remarkable human on the line could hear the beepy in the background. I tell you it was not four minutes later that I heard a siren, followed by four burly gentlemen bursting through the door. (They did ring the doorbell first.)

Maaaan I have rarely been so impressed with anyone. The firefighters rapidly checked the house, tested the CO levels, and then descended upon the annoying white beepy bump on the wall.

The firefighter who seemed to be in charge approached me and said the CO levels were fine. The CO detector, on the other hand, was not. It was busted. Please replace it IMMEDIATELY. Thank you.

I remembered this personal event when a much more dire situation unfolded at an apartment building on Bateman Crescent in mid-January. I’m sure you’ve heard the story: the news was everywhere. But to briefly recap, Dr. Mark Wahba was seeing a patient complaining of dizziness and headache. The patient’s child, it turned out, had similar symptoms.

Dr. Wahba, suspicious, called the fire department, which descended on the apartment building and determined the CO levels were dangerously high. Everyone was evacuated and medically evaluated.

It was a potential disaster. Recall that CO is odourless and otherwise undetectable to the basic human being. Once levels begin to build up, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, headache, weakness and confusion ensue. And of course, CO poisoning can be fatal.

So, Dr. Wahba was thinking clearly — indeed, brilliantly — and extrapolated on the patient’s situation, leapt into action and probably saved some lives (and certainly illness.)

The man is a hero. The fire department, within days, presented him with an Award of Merit that perhaps should also be plated in gold and encrusted with diamonds.

If you haven’t seen Dr. Wahba responding to receiving the award, look for the video online. He was in tears, and so was I, watching him. It hit him pretty close to home.

“My son’s in class with one of the kids in that building,” he said, struggling to keep control of his voice.

I also remember, decades ago, when a woman lost her child to CO poisoning. She recalled her walls raining with condensation, experiencing diamond-splinter headaches and confusion. It was absolutely horrible and tragic, and the only good that came of it was that it served as a reminder to the entire community to check your boilers and furnaces and water heaters and CO alarms.

Here’s another reminder. Everyone was okay, but that was because of a heroic doctor and an on-it fire department.

DO IT.

-Joanne Paulson