If your symptoms are severe or if you don’t quickly or completely recover (within five minutes), then call 911 and go to the local emergency department.If you are running a gas-powered space heater or equipment, turn them off.If you have a gas furnace, call the fire department to come and test your house for carbon monoxide.Common sources of carbon monoxide exposure include gas furnaces, gas-powered generators, gas-powered space heaters (e.g., kerosene) and operating gas-powered equipment indoors (e.g., power-washing your basement). Go outside immediately and see if your symptoms improve.
If you experience one or more of these “unexplainable” symptoms, Rusyniak advises: Feeling foggy, confused or light-headed.Feeling short of breath (like you just ran up a flight of stairs) can be accompanied by chest pain.Headache is the most common symptom and is often accompanied by nausea.Daniel Rusyniak, medical director of the Indiana Poison Center at Indiana University Health, keeps his top red flags short and sweet: The early warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning can easily be confused for feeling under the weather, which is why Dr. Understanding the risks and recognizing subtle signs can help to ensure this preventable accident doesn’t happen to you. More: Know These Signs & Symptoms of Allergies & AsthmaĪccording to the CDC, unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning causes about 500 unintentional deaths per year, and they can be jarring because they are so unexpected - and so easy to prevent.Ĭarbon monoxide risk heightens in certain high-risk situations - for example, as the weather gets colder and we turn on our furnaces or when we leave the engine running. When carbon monoxide builds up indoors and is inhaled by a person or animal it quickly becomes dangerous. Known as the “silent killer” because it is colorless and odorless, carbon monoxide can leak undetected in any home - and though all humans and animals are susceptible, fetuses, infants and people with chronic heart disease, anemia or respiratory problems are at the highest risk.Īccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this potentially deadly gas can be found in fuel-burning fumes produced by cars and trucks, small engines, grills, lanterns, stoves, gas ranges, fireplaces or furnaces.
0 kommentar(er)
