You may have heard the story out of Georgia where several dozen kids and teachers were stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning at school.

The sad thing is that kind of thing is so easily preventable. Unfortunately, carbon monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of poisoning death in the United States.

At my old home, we had carbon monoxide detectors in every room of the house. I believe in this kind of detection so strongly that I left them installed for the buyers who had two kids.

Then it hit me that we don't have a single one installed at our current home. That's about to change tonight.

Carbon monoxide detectors are cheap. They start in the mid-teens and you can get a fancy one for $35 per room. That's a cheap insurance policy for something that you hope never would happen. But if it did, think about how bad you would feel.

And, of course, it goes without saying you need working smoke detectors. Again, they're something very cheap that gives you a gift of life.

Can't afford a smoke detector? Call a fire station and ask for a referral to an organization that's giving away smoke detectors. Don't let money force you to put your family into an unsafe situation.

Finally, don't forget to ask your home alarm monitoring company about integrated smoke and fire detection in your existing system or if you're thinking about getting a system.