What is carbon monoxide poisoning, what are the symptoms and treatment and how it is it detected?
CARBON monoxide poisoning kills 50 people in the UK every year – and could leave someone unconscious in just two hours of a leak.
Here’s everything you need to know about CO poisoning – so you can keep yourself and your family safe.
What is carbon monoxide poisoning?
Known as the “silent killer”, carbon monoxide is an odourless, colourless gas, that can cause .
More than 200 and residents are taken to hospital as a result of the condition each year.
If inhaled, the gas can quickly enter a person’s bloodstream, making it unable to carry oxygen. The body’s cells and tissue then begin to fail, and eventually die.
Although the poisoning is treatable, between 10 and 15 per cent of people affected develop long-term complications of some description.
Carbon monoxide is produced when fuels such as gas, oil, coal and wood don’t burn fully.
Cigarette smoke, burning charcoal and car engines also produce CO gas.
The risk of being affected at home is increased if you live in a caravan, boat or mobile home.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of carbon monoxide are , although it doesn’t cause a high temperature.
Within two hours of a leak, an adult could lose balance, vision and memory – and eventually pass out.
If you recognise any of these symptoms, it’s important to go to your local Accident and Emergency department (A&;E) immediately.
Severe symptoms include:
- Intoxication: And impaired mental state
- Vertigo: The feeling that the environment is spinning
- Ataxia: Loss of physical co-ordination, caused by damage to the brain and nervous system
- Breathlessness: And a rate rate of more than 100bpm
- Chest pain: Caused by a heart attack
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness: From this stage, death can strike within minutes.
Common causes of C0 poisoning:
* Faulty boilers, cookers and heaters
* Faulty air conditioning units
* Blocked car exhausts
* Blocked chimneys
* Burning fuel in an enclosed space (e.g. running a car or using a BBQ inside a garage)
* Paint fumes
* Smoking shisha pipes indoors
How is it treated?
Doctors will take a blood test, to see if there is CO gas in your blood and if it shows a level of 30 per cent or more, it indicates severe exposure.
Mild carbon monoxide poisoning doesn’t require medical treatment, but it’s still important to seek advice.
Some of the ways doctor’s treat carbon monoxide poisoning include:
Oxygen therapy
Doctors will feed you 100 per cent oxygen through a tight-fitting mask.
Normal air only contains 21 per cent oxygen, so this should allow your body to replace supplies quickly and help remove the CO from the bloodstream.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
HBOT floods the body with pure oxygen, helping it overcome the shortage.
It’s sometimes used in cases where there’s been extensive exposure and nerve damage is suspected, but this is decided on a case-by-case basis.
This is because there’s currently insufficient evidence regarding the long-term effectiveness of HBOT for treating severe poisoning cases.
How is the gas detected?
Because carbon monoxide gas is invisible, the only way to detect a leak is with a CO alarm.
However, a shocking investigation has revealed Brits were putting their lives at risks by using faulty detectors. Which found that one in five tested were dodgy, while N Power revealed less than two thirds of UK homes (59%) have one installed.