Often dubbed “the silent killer,” carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless — it’s been shown to cause severe injury or death in hours and even minutes.
Between 2009 and 2019, deaths from non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning have been on the rise, based on a latest report released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) last month.
There have been 250 deaths related to consumer products in 2019, greater than in another 12 months within the report.
Some 40% of those deaths were brought on by engine-driven tools, including generators, power washers and lawn mowers.
Heating systems were behind one other 28% of the deaths, the report said.
Kristie Dusenberry, a mother and grandmother who lives along with her family on a farm in American Falls, Idaho, knows all too well the devastating impacts of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Her 21-year-old son, Brenden Dusenberry, nearly died recently when fumes filled his small apartment.
About 4 months ago, her son had moved to Iowa, where he was living in an apartment above his uncle’s garage.
“He was enthusiastic about living closer to friends and had began a latest job,” Dusenberry told Fox News Digital in an interview.
When a number of relations tried to call Dusenberry’s son over the weekend, nobody was in a position to reach him.
Around midnight on Sunday, Dusenberry got a call from her niece, who also lives at the home.
“She said Brenden was on the ground in the lavatory, couldn’t feel his left side and was throwing up,” she said. “Nobody had seen or heard from him for greater than 24 hours.”
When first responders arrived, they suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
Tests confirmed dangerously high levels within the room where Dusenberry’s son was found.
Over the subsequent few hours, Dusenberry slowly pieced together what had happened.
Her son had gotten very sick over the course of the day, then woke up in the course of the night with severe thirst. When he tried to get away from bed, his entire left side had gone completely numb.
“Brenden fell and hit his head on a dresser, then tumbled down the steps to the lavatory, and that’s where they found him,” Dusenberry explained.
The source of the fumes was a latest heater for the outdoor swimming pool, which had just been attached and was kept within the garage below the room where Dusenberry’s son was living.
Something had malfunctioned with the heater — causing carbon monoxide to fill the air.
One in every of the doctors told Dusenberry that carbon monoxide is lighter than air.
“It actually floats and might undergo sheet rock, or through any crack within the wall,” she said.
‘Lucky to be alive’
While Dusenberry realizes her son is lucky to be alive, she worries about his long and unsure road to recovery.
“Brenden’s heart isn’t fully working right away,” she told Fox News Digital. “His lungs were inflamed when he got to the hospital, and he needed to be put in a hyperbaric chamber to extend his oxygen levels.”
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is usually used for individuals who have moderate to severe carbon monoxide poisoning as a way of reducing the long-term cognitive effects. That’s based on Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, medical toxicologist and co-medical director on the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, D.C.
“Individuals who have confusion, heart rhythm abnormalities or other evidence of heart damage, and other serious signs or symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, are potential candidates for hyperbaric oxygen therapy,” she told Fox News Digital.
The doctors also realized that Dusenberry’s son’s kidneys weren’t functioning appropriately, which meant he needed to receive dialysis treatments.
“Brenden also has nerve damage on the left side of his body, and the doctors said it could take as much as a 12 months before he can use his left arm again,” Dusenberry said.
“He still can’t walk, and he can’t keep any food or fluids down.”
She added, “They did say that each one the carbon monoxide is gone — but all of the damage it caused isn’t.”
How carbon monoxide affects the body
Dr. Dung Trinh, a brain health expert and owner of The Healthy Brain Clinic in Long Beach, California, said probably the most dangerous outcomes of carbon monoxide poisoning can include death, everlasting organ damage and long-term neurological effects.
“Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that may bind to hemoglobin within the blood, reducing its ability to hold oxygen, resulting in tissue hypoxia and damage to vital organs,” he told Fox News Digital via email.
In cases where carbon monoxide poisoning is fatal, Trinh said the precise reason for death is usually related to severe tissue hypoxia (low levels of oxygen within the tissues) and damage to the brain, heart or lungs, which may result in respiratory failure, cardiac arrest or other life-threatening complications.
The consequences of carbon monoxide poisoning can vary, depending on the severity of the exposure and individual aspects, the doctor explained.
“In some cases, with prompt and appropriate medical treatment, the consequences could also be reversible, while in other cases, they could be everlasting,” he said.
Certain people could also be at the next risk of dying or not recovering fully from carbon monoxide poisoning, corresponding to infants, elderly individuals, pregnant women and people with pre-existing respiratory or cardiac conditions, the doctor said.
Long-term cognitive effects
Those that survive carbon monoxide poisoning may experience antagonistic long-term effects.
“These can include neurological symptoms like memory problems, difficulty concentrating and mood changes, in addition to respiratory and cardiac issues, depending on the severity and duration of exposure,” Trinh said.
Dawn Quintana, a 56-year-old former IT employee in Lake Point, Utah, experienced carbon monoxide poisoning at her workplace in 2013, when machinery was getting used inside with all of the doors and windows closed.
After repeated each day exposure — 10 hours a day, five days per week, for 90 days — Quintana was usually experiencing severe flu-like symptoms and lost her sense of taste.
When she was finally tested on the hospital, her levels of exposure were dangerously high.
To at the present time, even after seven years of therapy, Quintana still experiences the lingering cognitive effects of carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Sometimes I do know what I would like to say, but it surely doesn’t come out,” she told Fox News Digital in an email.
She also struggles with reading: “I can have a look at something and browse it silently just superb, but when I attempt to read out loud, the letters begin to fall away from the page and the left side of the page goes blank.”
Quintana has not been in a position to return to work. She will now not have a look at computer screens without getting dizzy and nauseated. Her relationships with family and friends have suffered.
“The struggle that I am going through each day — the lack of dignity — I’d not wish it upon my worst enemy,” she said.
Safeguarding against carbon monoxide poisoning
Every year, carbon monoxide poisoning claims the lives of at the very least 420 people and sends greater than 100,000 people to emergency rooms within the U.S. every year, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The excellent news is that it’s 100% preventable.
“Some strategies for safety and precaution against carbon monoxide poisoning include regular maintenance and inspection of fuel-burning appliances, proper ventilation in enclosed spaces, using carbon monoxide detectors and avoiding using fuel-burning appliances indoors or in enclosed spaces without proper ventilation,” Trinh said.
Carbon monoxide detectors can save lives
You could not give you the option to see, smell or taste carbon monoxide — but a working carbon monoxide detector can enable you to “hear” it, said Johnson-Arbor.
“Carbon monoxide detectors may be purchased for [about] $20 at big-box retailers, home improvement stores and even on Amazon,” she told Fox News Digital.
Residential carbon monoxide detectors may be plugged into an electrical outlet or may be hard-wired right into a home’s electric system, Johnson-Arbor said.
“Because carbon monoxide poisoning could cause excessive sleepiness, it’s essential to have a detector installed inside 10 feet of each sleeping area of your property,” she said.
Moreover, she recommends bringing a conveyable carbon monoxide detector when traveling because some hotels or vacation rentals may not have them installed.
For plug-in detectors, the batteries must be replaced every six months or after any prolonged power outage.
“Never ignore an alarming carbon monoxide detector,” Johnson-Arbor added. “These devices can save your life.”
12 months-round threat — not only in winter
While many individuals associate carbon monoxide poisoning as a risk throughout the winter months as a result of malfunctioning furnaces and lack of ventilation, precautions must be taken year-round, warned Johnson-Arbor.
“Throughout the summer months, people may be poisoned by carbon monoxide from faulty swimming pool heaters, indoor use of barbecue grills, gas-powered clothes dryers and other equipment,” she told Fox News Digital.
If you happen to suspect a case of carbon monoxide poisoning, it’s crucial to right away evacuate the affected area and seek medical attention immediately, Trinh said.
“Carbon monoxide poisoning is a medical emergency and requires prompt medical intervention,” he added.
