Discussion How others die by CO by accident?

[Thanatos123]

Every winter I read about deaths due to carbon monoxide and this winter is no exception.
For example: I've read about a family running a generator inside their home to use it for their appliances and to survive the cold. Many of them died by accident, yet we in this community have to make specific plans and follow them to the letter. Those exposed to high amount of CO can have the following symptoms: headache, vomiting, confusion and in the worst case scenario: blindness and brain damage.

I'd like to discuss with you the following:

1) How do these people die without experiencing the above symptoms?

2) Some of those victims have small air openings for ventilation, such as slightly opened windows, home vents or even the small gap under the door letting CO escape and oxygen coming in. Why do these victims die if there's still oxygen coming through?

3) I've realized that those who die by CO have the generator running while they're in the same or adjacent room in close proximity to the generator. Why do they faint without experiencing the above symptoms? If they faint, is there a chance for them to wake up instead of dying?

 

[Jblack]

I don't know the answer to all your questions. Question one I can help a little bit. A relative of mine died from CO exposure due to the heating not operating correctly. She did not die immediately. She became very ill with flu like symptoms. She was to the doctor several times but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. They ordered all kinds of tests but did not figure out the issue. After nearly a month she succumbed to the CO poisoning. An investigation revealed that when the heater company did their yearly cleaning of the unit they did not seal the duct work to the chimney properly resulting in CO getting into the house.

Obviously she was in and out with doors opening and closing but still the CO levels were able to get high enough to kill her and the symptoms looked more like the flue to a doctor. They listed her death a chronic exposure to CO.

Hope this helps a little with understanding how CO can kill.

 

[summers]

Cammed v8 and no cats running in a garage. Wouldn't take long at all...

 

[Thanatos123]

I don't know the answer to all your questions. Question one I can help a little bit. A relative of mine died from CO exposure due to the heating not operating correctly. She did not die immediately. She became very ill with flu like symptoms. She was to the doctor several times but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. They ordered all kinds of tests but did not figure out the issue. After nearly a month she succumbed to the CO poisoning. An investigation revealed that when the heater company did their yearly cleaning of the unit they did not seal the duct work to the chimney properly resulting in CO getting into the house.

Obviously she was in and out with doors opening and closing but still the CO levels were able to get high enough to kill her and the symptoms looked more like the flue to a doctor. They listed her death a chronic exposure to CO.

Hope this helps a little with understanding how CO can kill.

Thank you for the info!
So she still got CO poisoning even though she was not exposed to it at all times especially since she spent outside daily.
I never knew you could die even it you're exposed to it intermittently.

 

[Thanatos123]

I'm guessing not many people talk about CO here; since SN seems to be the preferred method to CTB.

 

[Mentalmick]

You also get them morons who take the barbecue inside the caravan with them and then wonder why it fucks them up.

 

[GenesAndEnvironment]

Imagine having a great life and then just accidentally dying peacefully in a comfy cabin because you failed chemistry in high school and ignored a couple of warning labels. That's a life worth living.

 

[Thanatos123]

Hey everyone

I'd like to continue the discussion I started above.
As I stated above: people die without even planning it, how do they die?

 

[Aap]

Regarding the oxygen question, CO (like SN though by a different mechanism) interferes with the red blood cells' ability to transport oxygen. Said another way, CO doesn't magically remove all of the oxygen from a room, it simply makes it unusable to the body's transport mechanisms.

People often read symptoms and assume in all cases all will be present. While certain symptoms appear often, and some basically always (a cherry red appearance), one symptom could explain why people don't respond to the others - confusion. If you are freezing, huddled over a stove to survive, and have decreased cognitive function, it would explain why one might not associate a headache with poisoning.

 

[Thanatos123]

Regarding the oxygen question, CO (like SN though by a different mechanism) interferes with the red blood cells' ability to transport oxygen. Said another way, CO doesn't magically remove all of the oxygen from a room, it simply makes it unusable to the body's transport mechanisms.

People often read symptoms and assume in all cases all will be present. While certain symptoms appear often, and some basically always (a cherry red appearance), one symptom could explain why people don't respond to the others - confusion. If you are freezing, huddled over a stove to survive, and have decreased cognitive function, it would explain why one might not associate a headache with poisoning.

Thank you.
Assuming the PPM is high, is there a chance one may wake up after fainting(assuming the generator is still running and the person has not been rescued)?

 

[Endeavour]

I'm almost expecting to start reading on the SN threads next "and what if the SN granules are rounder or more square. Or if the water is natural spring water from Scotland or iceberg water or tap water or 22C or 17C is there a chance....?"

Or "if someone has their head cut off by a guillotine and they wake up later in the basket, could a good surgeon save them by reattaching their head onto a cow?"

If the PPM are high enough you get in, you die, the end. These "asking every little thing to the far end of a fart" questions become irksome and are pointless, you can't expect people here to answer every conceivable variable of every conceivable set of circumstances with any degree of relevance to your individual set up, equipment and method.

 

[Aap]

If the stimulus of a high PPM isn't removed and nothing changes to the status of the situation (discovery), the person won't regain consciousness.

 

[Thanatos123]

If the stimulus of a high PPM isn't removed and nothing changes to the status of the situation (discovery), the person won't regain consciousness.

Thank you!

 

[Lupgevif]

Often those people fall unconscious before they have a chance to react to the symptoms, that's pretty much it.

 

[Thanatos123]

Often those people fall unconscious before they have a chance to react to the symptoms, that's pretty much it.

Sounds pretty sweet!
Thank you!

I can't wait to try it!