Carbonmonoxidekills (http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/) helps you to know about CO poisoning and how to protect your self and your family from CO poisoning.
2. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Facts:
Colorless, odorless and tasteless
A gas slightly less dense than air
Also known as carbonous oxide, carbon(ll) oxide and carbonly
It’s a flammable gas, burns with blue flame.
4. How ‘CO’ Formed:
• CO is generated from incomplete burning of carbon
containing materials like coal, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene,
propane, and many more.
5. Sources of CO:
Common sources of CO in homes include fuel-burning devices such as:
• furnaces • charcoal grills
• kerosene space heaters • wood stoves
• boilers • lawn mowers
• gas cooking stoves • power generators
• water heaters • camp stoves
• clothes dryers, fireplaces • motor vehicles
some power tools with internal combustion engines.
6. Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning:
>50%
•Death(especially if not removed from exposure)
•Seizure, Unconsciousness, Heart Attack
40-50%
•Confusion, Blurred Vision, Shortness of Breath, Pounding
Headache, Uncontrolled “sleep”, Vertigo, Loss of Coordination,
Chest Pain, Memory Loss.
30-40%
•Impaired Judgment, Difficulty Breathing, Blurring of Vision, Bad
Headache, Increasing Drowsiness, Stomach Pain
20-30%
•Drowsiness, Headache, Slight increase in Respiratory Rate,
Dizziness
<10%
•Sight Headache, Nausea
•None
8. Difference between CO poisoning and the flu?
It could be CO poisoning if:
You feel better when you are away from your home (or carbon monoxide
exposure);
Several people in the home gets sick at the same time (the flu is usually passed
from person to person);
The family members who are most affected spend the most time in the home;
Symptoms occur or get worse shortly after turning on a fuel-burning device
(furnace, oven, fireplace) or running a vehicle in attached garage;
Indoor pets also appear ill (pets may experience symptoms first);
You don’t have a fever or generalized aching and swollen lymph nodes typical
with a cold or virus or flu; or
Symptoms appear at the same time as signs of inappropriate ventilation,
maintenance, or operation of fuel-burning devices.
9. Occurrence of Carbon Monoxide:
• CO occurs in various natural and artificial environments. Typical concentrations
in parts per million are as follows:
Concentration Source
0.1 ppmv Natural atmosphere level (MOPITT)
0.5–5 ppmv Average level in homes
5–15 ppmv
Near-properly adjusted gas stoves in homes, modern
vehicle exhaust emissions
17 ppmv Atmosphere of Venus
100–200 ppmv
Exhaust from automobiles in the Mexico City central
area
700 ppmv Atmosphere of Mars
5,000 ppmv Exhaust from a home wood fire
7,000 ppmv
Undiluted warm car exhaust without a catalytic
converter
10. Treatment
Call 911
Get the Person to Fresh Air Begin CPR, if Necessary
(If the person is not
breathing normally)
Once you're at the
hospital
Move the person away from
carbon monoxide area.
Perform CPR for one
minute before calling
911 if you are alone.
Otherwise, have
someone else call and
begin CPR.
Breathing pure oxygen
through a mask placed
over your nose and mouth.
Turn off carbon monoxide
source if you can do so safely.
Continue CPR until the
person begins breathing
or emergency help
arrives.
Hyperbaric oxygen
therapy placed in a full –
body pressurized chamber.
Air pressure is >twice as
high as normal
atmospheric pressure. This
speeds the replacement of
CO with O2 in your blood.