Go immediately to your local emergency department if you think you or someone with you has been exposed to carbon monoxide and the symptoms suggest high levels. Your house will also need to be checked for safety before anyone returns.
Immediately go outside to get fresh air, and right away call Poison Help (1-800-222-1222), which connects you to your local poison center. If you feel better when you are out of your home and worse when you return, CO may be present. If you notice this, call 911. Have the fire department check for CO in your house.
Carbon monoxide is dangerous because a person may not recognize drowsiness as a symptom of poisoning. Consequently, someone with mild poisoning can go to sleep and continue to breathe the carbon monoxide until severe poisoning or death occurs.
If you have a mild case of CO poisoning, you'll feel better just by going outside and breathing fresh air. More severe cases may require treatment with pure oxygen or hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).
It involves breathing pure oxygen in a chamber for a set amount of time. The air pressure in the chamber is 2 to 3 times higher than usual. This helps replace carbon monoxide with oxygen in the blood. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might be used for severe carbon monoxide poisoning.
If no one is feeling symptoms, ventilate the home with fresh air, turn off all potential sources of CO - your oil or gas furnace, gas water heater, gas range and oven, gas dryer, gas or kerosene space heater and any vehicle or small engine.
This means that, in four to five hours, half of the carbon monoxide bound to hemoglobin will be replaced with oxygen. At normal atmospheric pressures, but breathing 100 percent oxygen, the half-life for the elimination of carbon monoxide from the body is 50 to 70 minutes.
How is carbon monoxide poisoning treated? The best treatment is oxygen therapy. Breathing pure oxygen can bring the oxygen level in the blood back to normal.
Opening windows helps the carbon monoxide quickly leave your home (as does opening doors). However, don't leave your exit path when getting out during this emergency to open as many windows as you can. Only open those that are along the way as you leave your home safely.
Diagnosing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. There isn't a self-diagnosis option for carbon monoxide poisoning. Symptoms may include: Headache and nausea.
The answer is no. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a potentially deadly emergency. Stopping by a nearby urgent care or prompt care can waste precious time. Go to the emergency department of a hospital if you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning.
Yes, carbon monoxide poisoning can be fatal. If you inhale a lot of CO fumes, it can be deadly within minutes of entering your body. Get to fresh air and call emergency services if you suspect you have CO exposure or poisoning. A person who's sleeping can sometimes die before experiencing any symptoms.
In most areas, the fire department does not charge to respond to carbon monoxide alarms or to check for the presence of CO in a residence. However, policies can vary depending on the jurisdiction or specific fire department. It's always a good idea to contact your local fire department for specifics on their policies.
If you have a carbon monoxide detector chirping and then it stops, it's important to take the situation seriously, even if the alarm is no longer sounding. Even if the alarm has stopped, get everyone out of the home to a place with fresh air.
Its half-life is approximately four hours in the fresh air. The treatment for severe carbon monoxide inhalation is using oxygen or hyperbaric chambers to minimize the CO in your system, which you will need to do at a hospital.
The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are often described as “flu-like.” If you breathe in a lot of CO, it can make you pass out or kill you.
Chemical Inhalation:
If experiencing extreme pain or difficulty breathing, get medical care as soon as possible! If the affected person is unconscious, move the exposed person to fresh air at once, if safe to do so, and request emergency medical assistance (call 911 or tell someone to call for you).
Moreover, due to the fact that carbon monoxide binds to blood cells in lieu of oxygen, it will take up to 120 days for the cells to die off and expel the carbon monoxide from your body. This means the negative effects carbon monoxide has on your body can linger for nearly a third of a year.
Keep windows and doors open slightly. If you suspect that CO is escaping into your home, open a window or a door. Opening windows and doors can significantly decrease CO levels.
If you're exposed to low levels, it can take up to two hours to show symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. At higher levels, the process can take about five minutes.
Call your emergency services (fire department or 911). Immediately move to fresh air - outdoors or by an open door or window. Do a head count to check that all persons are accounted for.