If you don't have a carbon monoxide gas detector, get one. They're fairly inexpensive and they could save your life.

Carbon monoxide is often referred to as the “silent killer” because it is tasteless, odorless and colorless. It is non-irritating and the symptoms are usually ignored or interpreted as being caused by something else. It is responsible for upward of 6,000 deaths each year in the United States, and sends an additional 40,000 to 50,000 patients to the hospital. Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is the most common cause of poisoning in the industrialized world, and maybe responsible for half of all the poisoning deaths worldwide.
 
Carbon monoxide is the product of incomplete combustion of fuels that contain carbon. Fuel sources for CO exposure are: indoor house fires, indoor gas heaters, gas stoves, ovens, camp stoves, fumes from automobiles, fumes from propane-powered equipment and virtually any other combustible items.

CO poisoning occurs when there are high levels of CO present and these gases are then inhaled. As the CO molecules enter the blood stream, they attach themselves to the red blood cells and prevent oxygen molecules from binding with them. CO molecules and oxygen molecules compete for the binding sites in the blood. A big problem is that CO molecules have a 200 times greater affinity (attraction) to red blood cells than oxygen molecules.

A simple explanation is that because there is a greater attachment of CO to the blood cells, the carbon monoxide will prevent the oxygen from getting into your blood stream. In fact, as CO levels continue to increase, the CO molecules will actually displace the oxygen molecules.

All of our organs need oxygen to survive and the most sensitive organ to oxygen deprivation is the brain. It is therefore no surprise that some of the first symptoms of CO poisoning are: headaches, dizziness and confusion. Left untreated, the symptoms can degenerate into vomiting, seizures and coma. Carbon monoxide also depresses the heart functions, which can result in chest pains. Most CO poisoning deaths are the result of a heart dysfunction known as ventricular fibrillation. Not all victims of CO poisoning will develop these symptoms and some victims may not elicit any. Other signs and symptoms of poisoning include; flu-like symptoms, fatigue, weakness and nausea. This is why it is difficult to diagnose or is often misdiagnosed as a viral illness.

Initial treatment for CO poisoning calls for removing the victims from the contaminated environment, supplying them with 100 percent oxygen and then getting them to the hospital. In severe cases, patients may be placed in a hyperbaric chamber for oxygen saturation.

The most common cause of high levels of carbon monoxide in your home will be from a faulty heater or gas appliance. If you have a carbon monoxide detector in your house, it will warn you. If you don't have one, you are at a greater risk. Check to be sure that Gas Alarm you have, or are going to purchase, was made after 1998. The guidelines for these detectors were revised in that year and any devices made prior to that year should not be used.

The Lompoc Fire Department carries hand-held gas detectors that can measure CO concentrations in the atmosphere. If we determine that high levels of CO exist, we remove any occupants, open all the windows, force clean air into the area by pressurizing it with a large fan, then search for the cause of the leak. Once the source of the gas leak is found, we turn it off. When the atmosphere is clean, the occupants can return to their home and have a repairman come to fix the faulty system at a later time. Anyone who is feeling ill is assessed and may be sent to the hospital.

Our department has just applied for a grant through the Department of Homeland Security for three new, very expensive, carbon monoxide oximeters.

These monitors can measure the CO absorption in a person's blood by just placing a clip-like device over the patient's finger. This will allow us to be much more accurate and pro-active in our assessments of your exposure.

We are doing our part and we need you to do yours. Don't ignore the CO detector alarm when you hear it. Don't remove the battery because it's annoying. You know our number; call us.