Carbon Monoxide

Published on: August 15, 2025

Researchers’ Bio-Engineered Molecule May be First-Ever Antidote for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. What to Know.

A new protein therapy discovered by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine may be the first-ever antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning, officials with the school announced this week.

The announcement followed the publication of their new study in the journal for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This came after researchers had bio-medically engineered a new molecule that could prove fruitful with reversing the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. The new molecule, said study corresponding author Dr. Mark T. Gladwin, has fewer side effects than other molecules that are currently being tested, including only minimal changes to blood pressure.

“This has the potential to become a rapid, intravenous antidote for carbon monoxide that could be given in the emergency department or even in the field by first-responders,” he said.

Published on: August 11, 2025

Texas Teen Died After Sleeping in Mom’s Car. Could Carbon Monoxide be the Cause?

By Leesfield & Partners

Police in Texas believe that a 15-year-old girl who died after she was found unresponsive in her mother’s car may have succumbed to carbon monoxide exposure, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 8 after the girl’s mother got off work. Police said the teen met her mom outside and the two stayed outside to talk and fell asleep in the vehicle while it was still running. Authorities told reporters that falling asleep in the car was “normal” for the family because they were recently unhoused and the “car is familiar to them.”

The mother discovered her 15-year-old when she later got up to wake her other daughter inside the home and came back to the car to find the girl unresponsive. The mother then started driving to the hospital and met first responders on the way. Tragically, the girl died at the hospital.

Published on: January 30, 2025

Child Dies Saturday in Key West Fire that Killed Family, officials say

By Leesfield & Partners

A 5-year-old boy died from his injuries in a fire at a Key West apartment that killed both his parents and one of his three siblings, officials said.

Sadrac Decimy died Saturday at HCA Kendall, where he and his two other siblings, 13 and 14 years old, were taken following Thursday’s blaze. The other two siblings are in stable condition at HCA Kendall as of Wednesday, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

The fire happened on Thursday at an apartment building with at least eight units at 1010 Emma Street in Key West’s Bahama Village. Parents Jean Decimy, 41, Evelyn Pierre, 38, and 7-year-old Dave Decimy, were killed in the fire.

Published on: December 13, 2024

Key West Hotel Joins Marriott Autograph Collection. A Look Back at Previous Leesfield & Partners Hotel Cases.

By Leesfield & Partners

Following a $35 million renovation, La Concha in Key West has recently joined Marriott’s “Autograph Collection,” a signifier of upscale properties within the Marriot International portfolio.

The 160-room hotel, formerly known as Crowne Plaza La Concha, was under construction since at least October of last year and now features a refurbished bar, hotel lobby and restaurant. Included in the renovation were upgrades to the outside of the hotel, rooms, the pool area and meeting spaces.

While the addition of an upscale lodging property is a positive development for Key West’s thriving tourist economy, which welcomes millions of visitors annually, guests should remain cautious.

Published on: August 16, 2024

Deluge projected to hit Miami-Dade County prompts NWS advisories. What to Know

By Leesfield & Partners

Forecasters with the National Weather Service are predicting heavy rain, floods, thunderstorms and gusts as high as 18 mph in South Florida Friday with the bad weather continuing into the weekend.

Scattered thunderstorms could bring wind gusts and heavy downpours starting Friday afternoon, according to NWS predictions. Up to an inch of rain is expected in some parts of Miami-Dade County during the day Friday and up to inches are expected at night.

The hazardous weather had most of the county and neighboring parts of South Florida under a flash flood warning and flood advisories Thursday, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. Community leaders and forecasters alike urged the public to never drive through flooded roads as there is no telling how deep the flooding has become and low visibility can make it easy to accidentally drive off-road into a canal. The majority of flood deaths occur in vehicles from people attempting to drive through waters and getting stuck, NWS officials said.

Published on: June 14, 2024

Boy hailed as hero after saving parents, siblings from close call with carbon monoxide at their West Virginia home, officials say

By Leesfield & Partners

Parents who chide their kids over playing late-night video games might think differently after hearing the news of Matteo Policano Wednesday in West Virginia.

Matteo, 10, was up late playing video games while his parents and four siblings slept when he heard a strange noise, according to reporting from a local news station. At first, the young gamer told reporters he thought the sound was from his game and ignored it. As the sound persisted, however, he became alarmed and woke up his father. They discovered the sound was coming from a carbon monoxide detector and, thinking it may need a battery change, the father decided to switch them out for new ones. When a second carbon monoxide detector within the home started ringing, the parents knew the situation was serious and rang emergency responders. An investigation discovered that “large amounts” of carbon monoxide was leaching into the basement from the family’s pool heater.

Hazards of Carbon Monoxide

Published on: May 22, 2024

Airbnb CEO talks difficulties of implementing carbon monoxide initiative in interview with NBC. How many people die needlessly from carbon monoxide poisoning?

By Leesfield & Partners

Nearly a decade after promising all properties listed on its platform would have detectors to safeguard guests from carbon monoxide poisoning, Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky, called the task “very hard.”

The comment was made in a recent interview Chesky had with NBC discussing difficulties that the company has faced.

“It’s really hard to mandate things in 220 countries and regions and cities all over the world,” Chesky said in the interview. “And then if you mandate something, you have to have a mechanism to verify that it happens.”

Published on: November 15, 2022

Leesfield & Partners Celebrates 35 Years of Excellence Representing Injured Victims in Key West

By Leesfield & Partners

In 1987, Leesfield & Partners opened their offices in Key West on the heels of a wrongful death case tried to verdict by Ira Leesfield. For the past four decades, the firm’s involvement in Monroe County has continued to grow both in the courts and in the community through educational programs, scholarships and contributions to numerous food banks. Every year the firm is a proud sponsor to the Marques Butler Memorial Softball annual tournament that is held in honor and memory of Marques Butler, a former client. The firm also looks forward to organizing, sponsoring and participating in the Monroe County Bar Association’s Annual Continuing Legal Education luncheon customarily held at Leesfield & Partners’ Key West Offices on Whitehead Street.

It is through its personal injury practice that the firm makes the biggest difference in the community. Most recently, the law firm obtained an 8-figure settlement stemming from a house fire in Ramrod Key. This is the second time the firm has secured such a result for clients. A few years ago Leesfield & Partners tried E.E. vs. XYZ Resort Hotel & Marina and MARK JASON HOLMES to verdict and won $40,580,000 for his client. To this day, this remains the highest personal injury verdict in the history of Monroe County.

Ira Leesfield and his law firm also reached a seven-figure settlement on behalf of an Iowa family that was injured following carbon monoxide exposure at a Key West Hotel. In addition to proving that the hotel’s negligent repair to the boiler roof vent caused carbon monoxide to be forced back down into the boiler room of the hotel and into the adjoining guest rooms where our clients slept, the firm successfully fought for passage of Senate Bill 1822. It was the first law at the time that required public lodging establishments to install one or more carbon monoxide detectors that we all take for granted today.

Published on: January 16, 2017

Fumes-related Key Largo Fatal Incident, First Responders to be Praised

By Leesfield & Partners

This morning three workers became trapped when they investigated the reason for the newly-paved Long Key Road was settling. Their investigation took them inside a drainage manhole, from which none of them came out alive. The three victims were working on a road project for Douglas N. Higgins, General Contractor.

When first responders arrived on scene, a volunteer firefighter with Ley Largo Volunteer Fire Department and two deputies with Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, they had to go inside the manhole themselves in an attempt to rescue the three workers. Two of the workers who had collapsed, probably due to some toxic fumes, were pronounced dead at the scene. Later in the day, the body of the third worker was recovered hours later, deeper inside the manhole.

Once the rescue was over, the volunteer firefighter also collapsed and was emergently transported to Mariners Hospital. Soon after, the two deputies part of the rescue were also sent to the Hospital. However, due to the firefighter’s condition qualified as critical, he was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami at Ryder Trauma Center.