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Please read the following article.

College statements

Recent RCoA statement on alleged gassing in motor vehicles

Despite the increasing numbers of reports of people being gassed in motor-homes or commercial trucks in France, and the warning put out by the Foreign Office for travellers to be aware of this danger, this College remains of the view that this is a myth.

It is the view of the College that it would not be possible to render someone unconscious by blowing ether, chloroform or any of the currently used volatile anaesthetic agents, through the window of a motor-home without their knowledge, even if they were sleeping at the time. Ether is an extremely pungent agent and a relatively weak anaesthetic by modern standards and has a very irritant affect on the air passages, causing coughing and sometimes vomiting. It takes some time to reach unconsciousness, even if given by direct application to the face on a cloth, and the concentration needed by some sort of spray administered directly into a room would be enormous. The smell hangs around for days and would be obvious to anyone the next day. Even the more powerful modern volatile agents would need to be delivered in tankerloads of carrier gas by a large compressor. Potential agents, such as the one used by the Russians in the Moscow siege are few in number and difficult to obtain. Moreover, these drugs would be too expensive for the average thief to use.

The other important point to remember is that general anaesthetics are potentially very dangerous, which is why they are only administered in the UK by doctors who have undergone many years of postgraduate training in the subject and who remain with the unconscious patient throughout the anaesthetic. Unsupervised patients are likely to die from obstruction of the airway by their tongues falling back. In the Moscow seige approximately 20% of the people died, many probably from airway obstruction directly related to the agent used.

If there was a totally safe, odourless, potent, cheap anaesthetic agent available to thieves for this purpose it is likely the medical profession would know about it and be investigating its use in anaesthetic practice.

So the short answer is no.

Steve W

Quote: Originally posted by Bernie47 on 04/8/2012

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Totally agree, everyone has heard of people being gassed but nobody actually knows anyone who has been gassed.

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Just returned from 3 weeks in France. Before we went I 'agonised' over whether to purchase a gas detector or not. Unsure if it's just a myth but there are countless reports of groups of motorhomes being broken into whilst the occupants are asleep. In MMM recently, 5 in one night parked in an Aire. However I decided to fit one which is also a CO detector. Whilst wild in France and also in Aires I enabled it and slept soundly. Myth not resolved but I'm happy with my £70 expenditure even if it's a myth I'm now safe from a monoxide incident.

If it makes you feel better, it's your £70.

Personally I would have spent it on 3 or 4 bottles of decent wine.

Steve \\\w