Every year, Emergency Departments in hospitals across the nation, including Box Butte General Hospital, have instances of patients coming in with Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that over 400 Americans die every year from accidental CO poisonings. CDC also reports that there are over 20,000 emergency room visits and over 4,000 hospitalizations each year from CO poisoning.

“Those occurrences inevitably increase in frequency during the cold months of the year,” warns BBGH Chief Quality Officer Mary Mockerman. “So we would like to provide some information to the communities we serve on ways to prevent CO poisoning, as well as what signs to look for if exposed to CO. They call it the Silent Killer for a reason. It’s an odorless, colorless gas that can kill you.”

CO is found in fumes produced any time fuel is burned in vehicles, small engines such as generators and lawn mowers, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges or furnaces. Hemoglobin is the molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all the tissues in the human body, and which scrubs carbon dioxide (CO2) out of those same tissues. CO binds to hemoglobin over 200 times easier than oxygen, which results in oxygen not being able to find room in hemoglobin because the space is occupied by CO. As a result, the body is starved of oxygen, and affected parts will begin to die.

Prevention

There are several ways to prevent CO exposure:

• Install a battery-operated or battery back-up CO detector in your home and check or replace the battery when you change the time on your clocks each spring and fall. When replacing the battery, remember to test the detector as well.
• Also recommended is to place CO detectors wherever company may be staying when visiting your home.
• Place your detector where it will wake you up if it alarms, such as outside your bedroom. Consider buying a detector with a digital readout. This detector can tell you the highest level of CO concentration in your home in addition to alarming. Replace your CO detector every five years.
• Have your heating system, water heater, and any other gas, oil, or coal burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician every year.
• Do not use portable, flameless chemical heaters indoors.
• If you smell an odor from your gas refrigerator have an expert service it. An odor from your gas refrigerator could mean leaking CO.
• When you buy gas equipment, buy only equipment carrying the seal of a national testing agency, such as Underwriters’ Laboratories.
• Make sure your gas appliances are vented properly. Horizontal vent pipes for appliances, such as a water heater, should go up slightly as they go toward outdoors. This prevents CO from leaking if the joints or pipes aren’t fitted tightly.
• Have your chimney checked or cleaned every year. Chimneys can be blocked by debris. This can cause CO to build up inside your home or cabin.
• Never patch a vent pipe with tape, gum, or something else. This kind of patch can make CO build up in your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never use a gas range or oven for heating. Using a gas range or oven for heating can cause a buildup of CO inside your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never burn charcoal indoors. Burning charcoal – red, gray, black, or white – gives off CO.
• Never use a portable gas camp stove indoors. Using a gas camp stove indoors can cause CO to build up inside your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never use a portable generator, pressure washer, or any gasoline-powered engine inside your home, basement, or garage or less than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.
• When using a generator, use a battery-powered or battery backup CO detector in your home.
• Don’t run a car or truck inside a garage attached to your house, even if you leave the door open.
• If using a propane fueled radiant heater while camping, or in any other setting where one would be used, be sure to buy one that has an automatic low oxygen shut-off system (ODS) that is CSA Certified (CSA Group is an independent, international product certification company). Also be sure the propane bottle is properly coupled to the heater.

Symptoms

A person may feel as if they have the flu, but without a temperature. If several people in the same building have the same symptoms, they may have CO poisoning. If this happens, all cooking and heating appliances should be switched off, all windows opened and the local gas company notified so that a technician can be sent to test the building for CO. People should leave the building until tested, since the longer an individual is exposed to CO, the more severe the symptoms will become. Within a few hours of being exposed, a person may experience:

• Loss of balance
• Vision problems
• Memory problems
• Eventual loss of consciousness

If symptoms are mild, there is a very good chance of full recovery. However, serious CO gas poisoning can have long term problems, including heart damage. Other symptoms may occur later, even months after inhaling CO gas, including:

• Confusion
• Memory problems
• Coordination difficulties

By following all of the tips on prevention and recognizing symptoms when exposed, area residents will greatly reduce the danger of CO poisoning.

Box Butte General Hospital is an equal opportunity provider and employer.