You should also check with local laws and building codes to ensure CO alarms are installed anywhere they are required.īe sure to install CO detectors that have a recognized testing laboratory, like Underwriters' Laboratories. The National Fire Protection Agency recommends installing a carbon monoxide detector outside each sleeping area and on each floor of your home. So, how can you keep it from happening? Carbon monoxide detectors Suffice it to say, carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious issue with potentially long-lasting effects. CO is known to be so damaging that there is a long-standing debate on whether people who have been poisoned by carbon monoxide can be organ donors. Even if CO poisoning isn't deadly, it can cause long-term or permanent damage to vital organs like the brain, heart and lungs. Prevention is the best approach with carbon monoxide poisoning. See all photos How to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning The best way to prevent CO leaks is to have your home's fuel-powered equipment thoroughly inspected each year. If you find any of these issues, take action fast. Soot, smoke or back-draft inside the home.Burner flame appears yellow instead of clear blue (exception: natural gas fireplaces).Brownish or yellowish stains around appliances.Here are some ways to identify potential carbon monoxide leaks: But other things, like blocked flues and chimneys and faulty or restricted car exhausts, can lead to a build-up of CO, too. The most common cause of CO leaks is poorly maintained or poorly ventilated gas-fueled household appliances. You experience the above symptoms, but lack other symptoms that are generally associated with colds and flu, like fever, body aches and enlarged lymph nodes.More than one person in the home is affected with similar symptoms.Relief from symptoms when away from home.These are the most common symptoms associated with CO poisoning. This is why CO is often referred to as "the silent killer." If they are not familiar with the risks and CO poisoning symptoms, they may mistake those symptoms for other illnesses. The fact that CO is odorless and invisible makes it even more dangerous, because people often do not suspect exposure until they have already become ill. Each year in the US, more than 400 people die from unintentional CO poisoning, more than 20,000 end up in the emergency room and more than 4,000 are hospitalized. Carbon monoxide indoors or without proper ventilation can result in carbon monoxide poisoning and can be deadly. Sounds pretty harmless, right? Not always. If you burn fuel in vehicles, small engines like lawnmowers, water heaters, clothes dryers, grills, gas fireplaces, gas ranges or gas furnaces, you have come in contact with carbon monoxide. In this review, clinical data and current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches concerning CO poisoning are discussed.Ĭarbon monoxide child fetus hyperbaric oxygen infant poisoning pregnant.You've most likely heard of carbon monoxide, but do you know what it is? Is it dangerous? Do you need a carbon monoxide detector in your home?Ĭarbon monoxide, or CO, is a colorless and odorless gas commonly found in home appliances and vehicles. It is administered through a mask in the form of normobaric oxygen therapy or through specific devices in the form of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Symptoms must be associated with cause of poisoning, and careful anamnesis and treatment must be conducted quickly. Poisoning in infants has a more severe course than seen in other age groups. In pregnant women, fetus can be harmed with relatively low level of COHb. Depending on severity of exposure, seizures, syncope, and arrhythmia may also be observed. Most common poisoning symptoms are weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, and nonspecific flu-like symptoms, like vomiting. Clinically, although it affects all organ systems, involvement of central nervous system (CNS) and cardiovascular system is predominant. Although symptoms of acute poisoning are most commonly observed in patients admitted to emergency rooms, effects of chronic exposure to CO can also seen. In addition, it has direct effect of causing cellular damage. CO reacts with oxygen, creating carboxy hemoglobin (COHb), which leads to tissue hypoxia. As CO is a substance that is not visible and has no taste or smell and is therefore difficult to detect, the gas can be a "silent killer" that is not noticed until effects develop. Although most poisonings occur accidentally, some cases are suicide attempt. In our country, it occurs particularly during winter as a result of leak from stove or water heater, or as result of inhalation during a fire. Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is one of the most common types of poisoning causing death worldwide.
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