The PHC industry ought to be in the forefront raising public awareness.

Strange, isn't it, these spasms afflicting the American public and news media over matters of life and death? So phobic are we about nuclear power, Alar, PCBs, CFCs and other environmental bogeymen with zero documented casualties, yet so carefree about indisputable hazards that take a horrific toll - like invisible, tasteless, odorless, but ubiquitous carbon monoxide.

Estimates vary, but the American Medical Association thinks it likely that some 2,100 people a year die from it, with more than 10,000 taking ill. Nobody knows for sure because the symptoms of CO poisoning - fatigue, headaches, dizzy spells and nausea - are easily confused with those of flu, food poisoning or many other common ailments. This confusion probably explains why people don't get more alarmed. It does not make CO any less deadly, however.