PSAP - Public Safety Answering Point

I called 911 for the first time (legitimately) last night. At 0130 (in the morning) the carbon monoxide detector beside our bed went off. We reset it a few times and it kept giving a high number reading. We googled the results of the CO reading (of course). The peak reading was 88 ppm (parts per million), which is above allowable osha standards, so we decided to call someone. I looked for a general police/fire number and couldn't find one so I dialed the ominous 9-1-1 dun dun dun. After taking our address, phone number, and complaint, the dispatcher told us to get out of the house, and that the fire department was one the way. Brett, Bruno, and I got in the car and pulled it out of the garage into driveway to wait in the warm car. the About 15 minutes later, an engine rolled up in front of our house and 4 firemen hopped out. They walked through the snow and into the house in their wet boots and walked into every room with their testing equipment. They also stuck a plastic unit on both Brett's finger and mine to test the carbon monoxide levels in our bodies. We were both in the normal range, but they were showing an average of 30 ppm of CO in the house, higher when the heat was on. This level is not dangerous for short periods of time but we weren't sure the exact cause or if the levels in the house might get higher. They called Questar to come out and about 40 minutes later (at like 0245), the questar guy stomped in with his wet shoes and followed Brett downstairs to look at the furnace while I went upstairs to lay in my warm bed. The questar guy tested some of the ducts in the furnace while the heat was on and the levels were much higher in the ducts than in the rest of the house. He left around 0330 and by this time I'm really tired but I promised the fire guys I would call their dispatch with the follow up diagnosis so I called stayed awake to get the scoop from Brett then recall their dispatch and let them know all was okay and that we were turning off the heat for the night. The questar guy said the furnace just needed to be cleaned however, we had the furnace looked at today and it turns out that the manifold is cracked and it's not repairable. Guess I'm not getting a laptop...at least we have an emergency fund! So happy that the E fund was instilled into my financial habits before I left home. Thanks padres! I'm also thankful that Brett thought to get a carbon monoxide detector, I never would have thought to go out and buy one of those expensive contraptions, but I'm sure glad we have it. Don't catch yourself without one!