What to do if you have carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide is a very dangerous gas. If we accidentally inhale carbon monoxide, it will harm our body. So what should we do if we are poisoned by carbon monoxide? If we do not treat carbon monoxide poisoning in time, it may lead to some complications, such as lung heat disease and heart disease. Therefore, we must pay attention to carbon monoxide poisoning.

We have good treatments for carbon monoxide poisoning, but it must be treated in a timely manner. We can use medication to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, and we must understand some principles of treating carbon monoxide poisoning and first aid measures for carbon monoxide poisoning.

1. Treatment medication

Mannitol, hypertonic glucose, diuretics, dexamethasone.

2. Treatment principles

(1) General treatment: breathe fresh air; keep warm; breathe oxygen; patients with weak breathing or no breathing must be given artificial respiration immediately; hibernation therapy can be used when necessary; patients with serious conditions can be bled first and then blood transfusion.

(2) Prevent and treat cerebral edema.

(3) Supportive therapy

3. Treatment measures

Quickly transfer the patient to a place with fresh air, let him rest in bed, keep warm, and keep his airway open.

(1) Correction of hypoxia

Correct hypoxia quickly. Inhaled oxygen can accelerate the dissociation of COHb. Increase CO emissions. When inhaling fresh air, it takes about 4 hours for half of CO to be released from COHb; when inhaling pure oxygen, the time can be shortened to 30 to 40 minutes, and when inhaling pure oxygen at 3 atmospheres of pressure, the time can be shortened to 20 minutes. Hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatment can increase the dissolved oxygen in the blood, increase the partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood, make it easier for oxygen in the capillaries to diffuse into the cells, and quickly correct tissue hypoxia. When breathing stops, artificial respiration should be performed as soon as possible, or a ventilator should be used to maintain breathing. Plasma exchange may be considered for critically ill patients.

(2) Prevention and treatment of cerebral edema

After severe poisoning, cerebral edema can develop to a peak within 24 to 48 hours. Dehydration treatment is important. The most commonly used one at present is 20% mannitol, which is given by rapid intravenous drip. After 2 to 3 days, when the increased intracranial pressure improves, the dosage can be reduced. Furosemide can also be injected to treat dehydration. Adenosine triphosphate and adrenal glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone can also help relieve cerebral edema. If there are frequent convulsions, the current first choice drug is diazepam, and phenytoin can be administered intravenously after the convulsions stop.

(3) Treat infection and control high fever

Throat swab, blood, and urine cultures should be performed, and broad-spectrum antibiotics should be selected. High heat energy affects brain function. Physical cooling methods can be used, such as using an ice cap on the head and ice bags on the body to keep the body temperature at around 32°C. If chills occur or it is difficult to lower the body temperature during the cooling process, hibernation drugs can be used.

(4) Energy mixtures are used to promote brain cell metabolism. Commonly used drugs include adenosine triphosphate, coenzyme A, cytochrome C and large amounts of vitamin C.

(5) Prevention and treatment of complications and sequelae

Nursing care during a coma is very important. Keep the airway open and perform tracheotomy if necessary. Turn your child regularly to prevent pressure sores and pneumonia. Pay attention to nutrition and give nasogastric feeding if necessary. After waking up from a coma, patients with acute CO poisoning should rest and observe for 2 weeks as much as possible to prevent the occurrence of neurological and cardiac complications. If there are sequelae, give appropriate treatment.

Above we introduced what carbon monoxide poisoning is. We know that inhaling too much carbon monoxide can cause poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning can also cause some complications. Therefore, once we have symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, we must use the methods introduced above to treat it.