What are the main manifestations of carbon monoxide poisoning, and what are the precautions for emergency treatment?
Zhu Jia, chief TCM physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Mild carbon monoxide poisoning manifests as dizziness, nausea, and some patients also experience headache, vomiting, and fatigue. As the symptoms of poisoning worsen, patients may also experience fatigue, confusion, unsteadiness in walking, and flushing. Severe symptoms of poisoning may also include inability to move limbs, inability to speak, impaired consciousness and even coma. Severe poisoning may present with stiffness of the limbs, spasms, and high fever. The above symptoms of poisoning are caused by the lack of oxygen in the body due to poisoning. In addition, carbon monoxide poisoning can also cause late-onset encephalopathy.
There are three ways for the public to detect carbon monoxide poisoning. One is that one person or several people in the same environment have the clinical symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning at the same time. Second, the poisoning place is often relatively small and poorly ventilated. Third, there are scenarios and conditions for the production of carbon monoxide.
When we find carbon monoxide poisoning, immediately extinguish the fire, cut off the gas, open the windows for ventilation, call for help, and call 120 for emergency services**. While ensuring your own safety, you can move the comatose person to a well-ventilated area with fresh air. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to keeping the patient warm, untying the collar of the comatose patient, keeping the airway open, and waiting for the doctor to rescue. If possible, measures such as oxygen inhalation can be carried out.