ABSTRACT
Carbon monoxide is one of the by-products from burning items and other materials during a fire, and it is the leading cause of death from inhalation.
Early recognition and treatment of patients with carbon monoxide (CO) exposure do not only save the patient’s life but also protects the emergency care personnel’s from becoming patients themselves. Report has shown that, carbon monoxide poisoning is a common cause of death worldwide and over 2000 individuals commit suicide by intentional poisoning and some others die while asleep or drunk due to high levels of exposure.
KEY WORD & ABBREVIATIONS: Pulseless Electrical Activities (PEA), carbo monoxide (CO), electrocardiogram (ECG), oxygen (O2), blood pressure (BP), cardio pulmonary resuscitation
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Other high risk includes, industrial workers at pulp mills, steel foundries, and plants producing formaldehyde or coke (a hard grey fuel), people who work indoors with combustion engines or combustible gases, and people especially children riding in the back of enclosed pickup trucks. (John P. Cunha, 2016).
CO is found in fumes produced by equipment powered by internal combustion engines such as portable generators, cars, lawn mowers, burning fuel in cars or trucks, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene, propane, natural gas or furnaces. (CDC 24/7, 2017). It also can be found when household appliances are incorrectly installed, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated. These are the most common causes of accidental exposure to CO. (NHS choices, 2016).
There are other possible causes of CO poisoning, they include blocked flues and chimneys, burning fuel or smoking shisha pipes in an enclosed space, a leak or blockage in an exhaust pipe, household cleaning products, spray paint, degreasers or paint removers which contains dichloromethane. (John P. Cunha, 2016).
Signs and
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The symptoms will gradually get worse with prolonged or long term exposure, thus lead to neurological symptoms, which may include difficulty thinking or concentrating and frequent emotional changes (mood swings). (NHS choices, 2016).
High levels of CO poisoning will progressively lead to an altered level of consciousness and personality change, loss of consciousness which will eventually lead to sudden death, seizures, breathlessness and tachycardia, chest pain which is caused by angina or a heart attack. There could also be loss of physical coordination which is caused by an underlying damage to the brain and nervous system. Classic cherry- red skin will be seen in post-mortem but not reliable in making diagnosis of CO exposure. (NHS choices, 2016).
False readings are usually gotten from the pulse oximeter unless a CO detector is used. Therefor patients exposed to 1-70ppm will not experience any symptoms from prolonged exposure except for patient with cardiac disease who will experience chest pain. Patient with exposure <70ppm may develop mild to moderate symptoms and 150-200ppm will become disorientated, unconscious and possibly die. (NHS choices,