Read This Before Booking A Short Term Rental On Your Trip Io Machu Picchu

I'm posting this true story to raise awareness for travelers who want to arrange their own short-term accommodations on their trip to Machu Picchu. Kirsten, the mother of the family in this story, provided the details and is allowing me to share the chronicle of events that nearly caused her entire family to die. Independent travelers should be aware of how things like building codes, local climate and other factors can affect not only their comfort, but also their well-being while traveling in a foreign country. I intend to inform and educate travelers to prevent others from falling victim to invisible, noxious, deadly Carbon Monoxide poisoning. I believe several factors, unique to Cusco, Peru, played a part in misdiagnosing the symptoms of the silent toxin that nearly killed an entire family on their vacation to Machu Picchu. 

How could experienced travelers have missed the warning signs that they were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning?

The family of 6 who were on a multi-country adventure in Central and South Americca, made all their own reservations for short term vacation rentals in all the contries they were visiting. As with many families who travel together, vacation rentals offer privacy, flexibility and togetherness that may enhance the overall travel experience.

I'll describe the circumstances that led up to an entire family coming close to death from carbon monoxide poisoning and why it took so long to figure out what was happening to them. Then I'll give you a few tips on how to prevent this from happening to you or anyone you know, who books vacation rentals outside the US. 

The first confounding factor to distract the parents from realizing they were suffering mild symptoms of CO toxicity was that they believed the headaches that some members of the family experienced were due to their arrival at high altitude. It's quite common for people coming from sea level, which happens to be the majority of visitors arriving in Cusco, to experience headaches due to high altitude. In the first couple of days in Cusco, the family was busy exploring the city center and didn't spend a lot of time in their apartment. They treated the headaches with OTC medications and spent most of their time outside. The headaches were not severe enough to cause concern.

The second symptom to affect some of them was nausea and even vomiting. This can be a side affect of high altitude or food poisoning. Most people don't think about carbon monoxide poisoning. Again, the symptoms were misdiagnosed. 

The third factor to play into the story was that there were no clues to indicate they were being poisoned. There was no odor, no unusual sounds, or indicators that an appliance was malfunctiong. But on the evening before they were supposed to get picked up at 4am to hike the 1 Day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, they all took showers, prepared and enjoyed a family dinner and spent the evening packing for the hike. This is when things got rough.

The fourth factor to affect the situation is that building codes are different in other countries. Although propane is used for everything that's heated in Peru, CO detectors are not required. And not even used. After they recovered from the incident, Kirsten could not find a detector in Cusco to buy to bring with them as they continued their travele. The other thing about buildings in Peru, is that they are not usually airtight. Windows may leak, doors may not be tightly fitted to the openings, and houses are not centrally heated. Most travelers occupy rentals for short periods. However this family had reserved the apartment for close to 2 weeks. Propane in Peru is not scented by chemicals to alert people that there may be a leak. All of these factors combined may explain why previous occupants of the apartment did not experience anything unusual.

After everyone went to bed, Kirsten got up to take something for her headache. That's when she collapsed unconscious on the bathroom floor. Her husband heard the commotion and went in to check and he collapsed as well. This part gives me chills because this was the point at which things could have gone one way or the other. Because both parents were on the floor the level of oxygen was better and they recovered enough to get up and move around. By this time, a couple of children complained of headaches and even vomited. Kirsten contacted our manager in Cusco and told him they had to cancel the hike due to the severity of their illnesses. At 4am, our manager went to see them and also assumed they were all suffering from food poisoning. It was decided they would all rest for the morning and he would try to change their train tickets so they could at least go to Machu Picchu the next day.

Kirsten was in touch with a family member in the states who was an engineer. (as was she). It was decided they should all seek medical help and they went to the nearest hospital facility in Cusco. Here it was validated by a simple blood test that they all had toxic levels of CO in their blood. The severity of the poisoning became obvious as they were given pure oxygen administered by mask for 12 hours. It took 12 hours before their blood test was normal enough for them to leave the hospital. (The owner of the aparment found them another place to stay)

What caused the Carbon Monoxide leak in their vacation rental?

It turns out that the appliance responsible for the deadly leak, was a water heater. The appliance was mounted indoors with a propane tank outside on the other side of the wall. However the indoor appliance was not vented. At all. The owner of the apartment contacted the professional installer who claimed it was installed correctly. (this seems intuitively wrong to me, but I'm not claiming to be an expert). We can't solve that dispute here. But it indicates how people's view of the situation can vary, which is a signal for travelers to be educated on how to handle propane appliances. How many travelers from western countries understand the proper techniques for using propane appliances? Or could identify if an applicance were not installed correctly?

Fortunately, there are a few things travelers can do to protect themselves in short-term rentals.

• Know the symptoms of CO poisoning. I'm not going to tell you here. I want you to look it up yourself so you'll remember them!
• When booking online rentals, ask if any of the appliances are fueled by gas or propane. (Many hotels and some short-term rentals may use electric oil-filled radiators so that guests don't have to handle propane. Central heating is not typical)
• ask if the residence is protected by CO detectors (and you might as well ask if smoke detectors are in place as well. Right?
• buy your own portable detectors (note: I read that TSA in the US usually permits people to bring detectors into the cabin on their flights, as long as you are abiding by the rules for traveling with lithium batteries. But other countries may have different rules.)
• most western countries add a chemical scent to gas so that consumers can identify the poison. But adding scented chemicals may not be done everywhere.

Disclaimer: I am sharing this information as a courtesy to travelers. I am not responsible for how anyone chooses to handle their potential exposure to harmful substances or the accurancy of information provided by this post or your own online searches.