Getting immediate medical treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning is the critical step if you believe that carbon monoxide poisoning has happend on you or someone near you.
But, you must make sure that the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning show up.
Before getting medical treatment, take the victim into fresh air immediately, as the first aid.
This is very important to stop breathing CO gas by the victim. And it is also to supply enough oxygen for him or her.
If you have pure oxygen at home, then it had better give it to the victim. Breathing pure oxygen means that breathing oxygen for his or her vital organs and tissues.
So, I strongly recommend you have a small pure oxygen cylinder or medical grade oxygen at home completed with the mask for facing such conditions.
Place it in a room or location inside your home where you and your family members can access it easily with no hindrance.
In addition, do not forget to educate your family members on how to use oxygen cylinder properly in combating the toxic gas attacts.
Important: before goin to a hospital, ask someone to help you preparing the following information that are important for the doctor:
- CO poisoning symptoms you are feeling
- other health problem you have
- suspected CO poisoning sources you might expose to
- tell the doctor if you are smoking too
Treatment for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in the Hospital
In the hospital, the doctor will give you immediate medical treatment to overcome the CO poisoning problem:
- Testing your blood sample to confirm that you are suffering CO poisoning by checking COHb (carboxyhemoglobin).
- If the result confirms it, then you will receive the next treatment
- You will get pure oxygen to supply more oxygen to your vital organs and tissues. If you cannot breathe, then the doctor will provide a ventilator to help you breathe.
- If your condition requires quick oxygen supply, then oxygen supply from a pressurized chamber will be provided. In this case, you will breathe oxygen from a chamber, where the pressure is higher than normal. It is about 2-3 times higher than normal pressure to speed up carbon monoxide replacement in your blood cell.
- Pressurized oxygen breathing is given to protect your heart and brain tissues damaged caused by CO poisoning.
- Pressurized oxygen breathing or hyperbaric oxygen therapy may also be recommended to pregnant women (to protect her unborn baby), and victims with impaired consciousness, cardiac ischemia, neurological deficits, or a very high COHb concentration.
