Bridgewater MA CO Poisoning Sends Two Humans, One Dog to Hospital

Levels in the Bridgewater MA CO poisoning were extremely high, with readings of more than 800 ppm, according to this Massachusetts news source. The story behind the Bridgewater MA CO poisoning was not necessarily typical. An emergency call came in from a resident of a home Tuesday morning.

The man who called reporting feeling very sick, and that his dogs were “acting crazy.” The dogs’ behavior was not the only clue that something was up. His wife was transported to Good Samaritan hospital the night before after she fell unconscious.

The firefighters did not realize that the culprit was carbon monoxide poisoning that Monday night. However, when the man fell ill the next morning, they began an investigation. The source of the carbon monoxide was a cracked heat exchanger, which filled the home with the toxic gas.

The firefighters found the sick man Tuesday morning, and found one of his dogs unconscious. They revived the dog with oxygen and transported him or her to the animal hospital. The glaring problem in this story was that there were no carbon monoxide detectors. This is a lesson to the couple and to others who read the story to install carbon monoxide detectors.

The most interesting part about this story is that there were warning signs. The dogs were alerting them to the carbon monoxide poisoning with their unusual behavior. The man’s unconscious wife was another strong warning signal that there was a problem there. This is another lesson to not ignore the warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. In order to do that, you must know the warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Usually, CO poisoning resembles another illness like the flu or food poisoning. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, open windows and doors to ventilate your home or business (or wherever you are) immediately. If people are feeling sick, call for help immediately. If you start to feel sick even after the poisoning, it’s important to call for help.

In the Bridgewater MA CO poisoning, it was a close call. With levels that high (more than 800 ppm in parts of the home), the carbon monoxide poisoning must have been severe. The man was in the house all night, so he may have severe poisoning. Another clue that the poisoning may have been severe was that the woman (and the dog) were unconscious. If levels were high enough to cause a person and an animal to fall unconscious, it would probably be necessary to administer hyperbaric oxygen. The fire chief even admitted that with levels so high, they wouldn’t have lasted much longer.

Hyperbaric oxygen is a therapy where 100 percent oxygen is delivered in a pressurized chamber. It has been proven to reduce the cognitive symptoms that follow carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning at high levels such as there in the Bridgewater MA CO poisoning can cause permanent brain damage.