What to pack for a safe family trip: From a carbon monoxide detector to a compass

After the deaths of two British children in Corfu, should we all be taking carbon monoxide monitors on holiday? Yes, says Simon Calder, and suggests other safety must-packs

The deaths of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, aged six and seven respectively, were shocking. The children were on holiday at the Louis Corcyra Hotel in Corfu with their father, Neil Shepherd, and his partner, Ruth Beatson. As they were on a proper package holiday provided by the strongest name in travel, Thomas Cook, the family's safety should have been assured. But their accommodation was a bungalow that had an outbuilding attached. Inside this was a poorly installed and maintained hot-water boiler – a fact the hotel concealed from Thomas Cook reps when they conducted the statutory safety audit.

The carbon monoxide produced by the water heater seeped into the bungalow, killing the children and leaving the adults unconscious.

Since the tragedy, the parents have endured a painfully slow legal process. West Yorkshire Police investigated the case and passed their findings to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decided there was insufficient evidence to press charges against anyone working for Thomas Cook. In 2010, three members of the hotel staff, including the manager, were found guilty of manslaughter by a Greek court. Two Thomas Cook reps were cleared. But an inquest earlier this year in Wakefield into the deaths returned a verdict of unlawful killing and found that Thomas Cook had "breached its duty of care" to the children. And now the coroner of that inquest, David Hinchliff, has called on the travel industry and the Government to do more to reduce the dangers to holidaymakers from carbon monoxide – or face "a risk that future deaths will occur".

Hinchliff says that safety checks of holiday properties should not be left to "inexperienced and overworked" holiday reps. Instead, qualified health and safety specialists should be brought in. Tour operators have not publicly contested this recommendation – though privately many firms believe they already conduct robust safety audits, and are alarmed at a measure that would push their costs up.

Yet stricter checks could have the unintended consequence of raising the overall risks.

Thanks to decades of legislation and experience, booking a proper package holiday already buys a high degree of reassurance that everything from the height of the hotel balcony to the depth markings in the swimming pool has been checked. Even the maintenance records of the bus firm operating the airport transfers are inspected.

As the children's deaths tragically demonstrate, safety audits can occasionally fail. But families can expect far higher standards for accommodation bought from tour operators than for rooms booked online. If, with the best of health-and-safety intentions, package holidays become more expensive, more families may take their chances with rooms found through the internet.

If you choose to rent a stranger's apartment, or book a cheap hotel in Thailand or Turkey, you surrender the expectation of a proper safety check and instead must trust your luck. But to improve your survival odds, invest a little of the cash you save on a carbon monoxide detector (mine cost less that £20 at Argos).

Hinchliff's other key recommendation is for an awareness campaign to remind the travelling public of the risks. He wants to see clear warnings in holiday brochures about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. A sound plan – but with fewer and fewer families reading brochures, it is more critical to post safety warnings online.

One more urgent step: the key UK holiday airports should put up posters warning of the risks, and ensure that detectors are sold "airside" at high-street prices. The memory of Bobby and Christi is best honoured by learning from the tragedy.

What to pack for a safe family trip

* For young children, a safety bracelet with contact details on

* A compass (Yes, a real magnetic one rather than the one on your phone, just in case you get lost and run out of juice)

* A basic first-aid kit

* The painfully obvious (but too often overlooked): hats, sunscreen, water

* And an understanding of the greatest threats to holidaymakers:

1. Crashes on the roads, so go for rail whenever it is an option, and consider paying a professional local driver rather than renting a car.

2. Accidents in water: don't let young children out of your sight for a moment, and understand how to recognise and deal with rip currents. See our guide here: bit.ly/RipSafety.