Four people rushed to hospital after suspected carbon monoxide poisoning from charcoal BBQ

Four people have been rushed to hospital for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after a charcoal BBQ was used for heating at a home in western Sydney.

NSW ambulance said they were called to a unit in Wentworthville about 3.30am on Saturday, after reports of multiple people fainting.

Paramedics treated four people at the scene before they were rushed to Westmead Hospital.

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Fire and rescue crews were alerted to the incident, after residents reported having difficulty breathing and a strong smell of gas at the home.

Superintendent Tim Hassiotis said crews used specialist equipment and found elevated levels of carbon monoxide, believed to have come from a charcoal briquette BBQ used to heat the home overnight.

“These types of equipment, used as heaters, pose a very dangerous threat,” he said.

Hassiotis said he understood people might want to use what they can “to keep warm” overnight, but that the “risks were too high”.

“We urge those using this kind of equipment to only use them in a well ventilated area.”

Carbon monoxide is known as a silent killer, as it is mostly odourless and non-irritating, causing those exposed to it to lose consciousness and unable to escape the danger.