Carbon monoxide poisoning is greater danger in winter

    Snowstorms and freezing temperatures are not the only problems we face in these cold winter months. Carbon monoxide exposure also increases over the winter as people turn on their furnaces and close their homes to the frigid outdoor air.

    Washington firefighter Mark Chenoweth said any method of home heating that is fueled by gas emits carbon monoxide and that it is important to ventilate the fumes.

    ?You have to be careful if you?re running a gas generator in your garage because the carbon monoxide can get into your home,? said Chenoweth. ?A generator is best placed outdoors where the carbon monoxide can dissipate into the air.?

    Furnaces and water heaters can also be hazardous if they are not allowed to vent properly. Chenoweth said many new furnaces will turn off if something is blocking the vent. That ensures that carbon monoxide will not build up in the home.

    ?I?m not saying you should call the fire department every time your furnace shuts off, but if your furnace does shut off unexpectedly it may indicate a problem with the ventilation,? said Chenoweth.

    Chenoweth also said that running a vehicle in an attached, unventilated garage will also cause an accumulation of carbon monoxide in the home and that this should be avoided.

    Knowing when you have been exposed to carbon monoxide can be difficult because the gas is colorless, odorless and non-irritating. Chenoweth said carbon monoxide detectors are really the only good way of discovering if the gas has leaked into a home?s living quarters.

    Washington paramedic Chad Scarff said that extended exposure to carbon monoxide can lead to nausea and redness in the face. He said these symptoms are caused by a lack of oxygen in the body. When carbon monoxide is breathed in, it attaches to red blood cells and prevents oxygen from attaching to those cells. In turn, red blood cells don?t carry enough oxygen to the brain, which results in dizziness.

    If a person is left exposed to a large dose of carbon monoxide, the person can pass out, said Scarff. He said that a dose of 5 parts carbon monoxide per million is considered a lethal dose.     

    When a person has been exposed to carbon monoxide, he is immediately removed from the environment and given 100 percent oxygen. Scarff said that a person with carbon monoxide poisoning is taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where he is put in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber. In hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the blood is able to carry more oxygen and thus the body is able to recover more quickly from the carbon monoxide poisoning.

For the full article, see our Jan. 8 print edition.