The Practical Motorhome web forums have been buzzing recently with the continuing debate about whether gas attacks on motorcaravanners travelling abroad - whereby would-be thieves fill your 'van with gas, rendering you unconscious, before robbing you - really have occurred.
You've been keen to air your views and they've certainly been varied. Some of you are convinced that gas attacks have happened. Others are certain that the attacks are pure fiction.
'Rayb' said:
We've never met anyone it's happened to - only a few people who say they know someone. I don't know…
What I do know is that whatever one is doing, be it
at home walking through a town, or abroad on holiday,
it always pays to remain alert and sensible, with a good eye to one's safety. I believe it's basic human survival.
Either stay in bed, too frightened to do anything, or get out and do what you want - just be sensible about it.
'Mike C' said:
Doesn't happen. Urban myth, etc? Contact your insurance company and ask them about claims incidence and policy terms if an attack happens.
My insurer informed me that
it receives around ten to 20 claims a year for losses due to gas attacks. Either there are people out there making fraudulent claims (likely) or the claims are genuine (unlikely).
I think it would be better
to install a gas warning system for LPG and butane gasses, which seems to be a far more likely occurrence.
'Mucker' said:
If you are worried about gas attacks, what about alien abduction also? Let's face it, more people claim to have been abducted by aliens (and there is just as much proof).
It is a myth put about by the paranoid. Get on with life and enjoy it!
Dr Park's opinion
Such is the confusion over the subject that we decided to enlist the opinion of reader
Dr Gilbert Park, Consultant
in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, in Cambridge. We asked him to tell us, using his professional experience, whether he believed that gas attacks were possible or, indeed, likely.
Dr Park says that "according to the media the incidents are increasing. The occupants of motorhomes are being rendered unconscious by narcotic (sleeping) gases being sprayed into the vehicle before the occupants are robbed.
"The commonest narcotic
gas available to criminals is contained in sprays designed to help reluctant vehicle engines to start. These contain diethyl ether, the same sort of gas used to anaesthetise humans for medical operations.
"Other gases, such as propane, may also be used but these are not narcotic. They replace the oxygen in air thereby suffocating the vehicle's occupants.
"When I was training as an anaesthetist, many years ago now, I was taught to use ether to put healthy humans off to sleep for surgery. It is not easy. Ether is a pungent vapour that causes coughing and irritation of the airways.
It is also very slow to act. Even when holding a mask over the patient's face, minutes would pass before they went to sleep. During the phase of going off to sleep there can be a period of excitement when the patient might become very restless. Because of these and other difficulties, ether is no longer used and has been replaced by other anaesthetic drugs.
"It is difficult to believe that a concentration of ether sufficient to put somebody to sleep, could be delivered by spraying the gas into a motorhome through a ventilation plate. However, it might be possible to make an occupant more sleepy than normal by using a low concentration of ether, especially if they are tired after a long drive, or possibly after a nice glass or two of red wine.
"If a robbery were to be discovered, the pungent smell of ether would still be present and could not be missed. Interestingly, few of the reports I have read mention this. But if it is used and the driver has been sedated then they probably shouldn't drive for 24 hours afterwards in order to allow the effects to wear off completely - just like being given sedation in hospital.
"So, do I think the risk of being anaesthetised, or suffocated, is enough to make me buy an alarm? No. Will
I fit one to my 'van? Yes. Why? Because ether, and the other gases, are highly flammable. Ether fires are terrifying and
I would like to know if someone were spraying this into my motorhome. Every month, the pages of magazines contain three or four adverts for gas detectors, to protect against such a problem. Furthermore, criminals probably don't read Practical Motorhome and may still believe they can anaesthetise us with an ether spray.
An alarm might just frighten off these would-be attackers."
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