Carbon monoxide poisoning: limiting the risks

Each year, 5,000 people were victims of carbon monoxide poisoning and 90 died. Good habits to adopt to reduce the risk of accidents.

A toxic gas, odorless and invisible

Every winter, we are witnessing an upsurge in cases of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Involved? Boilers, stoves, fireplaces, water heaters and gas cookers or defective, incorrectly adjusted or poorly maintained , which is more settled in poorly ventilated rooms.

Because if the burning wood, coal and gas naturally produces carbon monoxide (or CO) when it drains poorly , it accumulates in the home.

It is then inhaled by the lungs and passes into the bloodstream to bind to hemoglobin in red blood cells at the expense of the oxygen it hunting. Its affinity for hemoglobin is 230 times greater than that of oxygen, a small amount of CO in ambient air may be enough to cause suffocation .

Symptoms

Be especially vigilant: 1 out of 3 poisonings are not diagnosed in time .

Because unlike other cases of asphyxia, respiratory problems very late , occurring during the period of coma.

Hence the need to identify early warning signs :

- Drowsiness, fatigue, intense and sudden, unexplained malaise;
- Headaches, blurred vision;
- Nausea, vomiting;
- Tinnitus, dizziness, abnormal behavior.

These symptoms should alert you even more if several people are affected simultaneously in the same environment.

In case of poisoning

- At the first sign, turn off the unit in question, ventilate the room and pull or push out the victim immediately ;

- call 112 (single European emergency number), the 15 (Samu) or 18 (Fire Brigade).
When rescuers will be on hand, they confirm the diagnosis through a breath test and / or a blood test, then place the victim with an oxygen mask before being taken to hospital where she will eventually be installed in a box said " Hyperbaric "if his clinical condition requires it, where it can breathe oxygen under high pressure;

- Do not go back inside before receiving advice from a professional.

Prevent hazards at home:

- maintain your boiler made by a qualified professional. For peace of mind and sign a maintenance contract that guarantees an annual visit to prevention (control, cleaning and replacement of defective parts) and a free breakdown on call;

- Sweep your chimney 2 times a year;

- Never cover the air vents in the kitchen and bathroom on the pretext that it is cold: the air must be able to renew;

-Aerate parts, including the winter;

- Make sure your natural gas appliances are the NF and / or EC;

- Regularly clean the burners on your gas stove. We should see a blue flame and short in each hole;

- You can equip your home with a carbon monoxide detector labeled NF EN 50291.

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