Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Can Kill!

Mild brain injury is often called the “invisible injury.” Carbon monoxide is not only an “invisible killer”, it is also one of the main culprits in causing invisible injury, that is long term brain damage that alters how a human being thinks, feels, behaves and moves. Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless gas which can kill and cause permanent brain damage.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

If your carbon monoxide alarm is going off, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. 

Don’t call the 800 number. Don’t call 911 until you are out of the house. The longer it takes to get out of the house, the more carbon monoxide you are going to breath. The more carbon monoxide you breath, the higher the carbon monoxide concentrations in your blood will be. Carbon monoxide in your blood can cause brain damage and DEATH. Yes death. You can become aware that you have carbon monoxide poisoning one moment and be unconscious the next.

Drop Where you Stop a Real Risk if Carbon Monoxide Alarm is Going Off

In the most serious cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, there is very little time between awareness of the danger and loss of consciousness. Do not wait to call 911. The unconsciousness can happen that quickly.


This La Quinta Hotel in Rochester, Minnesota was the scene of a non-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning on November 4, 2023. 



Only Pause to Warn Other Occupants and Take Your Pets

Understanding Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

In order to understand CO poisoning it is important to understand:

How CO is formed from a fuel burning appliance or machine,

How it is that it leaks or disperses into air that is breathed by humans; and

What impact carbon monoxide has on the blood stream and cells.

CO is toxic for two reasons: First, because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood.  Second, because it is poisonous to cells, setting off an immune response which is likely to cause greater damage than the oxygen deprivation aspect of the CO poisoning in those who survive.

Videos about the non-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning in Rochester, Minesota:

Articles of Interest In The News…

Five Students Sickened by Aerosol Product

Date: 10/24/2008METAMORA, Ill. (AP) — Five students needed hospital treatment for breathing problems after someone sprayed an aerosol product on a school bus. Officials said 63 students were on the bus heading to a grade school in Metamora.…

Woman, 3 children killed in Mich. house fire

Date: 10/22/2008 1:43 PMBy JEFF KAROUBAssociated Press WriterHIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) _ Fire killed a woman and three children in one home early Wednesday and spread to four other houses, three of them vacant, fire and city officials said.Space…

FEMA disputes formaldehyde study of Iowa trailers

Date: 10/21/2008 10:44 PMBy NIGEL DUARAAssociated Press WriterIOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) _ The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday questioned a TV station's findings of high formaldehyde levels in agency-issued trailers and said the lifestyles…

Man accused of 9 Ohio fire deaths claims innocence

Date: 10/14/2008 4:54 PMBy THOMAS J. SHEERANAssociated Press WriterCLEVELAND (AP) _ A man indicted this month on charges of setting a fire that killed a woman and eight children at a birthday sleepover said he would never do anything to harm…

The Other Mild Brain Injury

Carbon monoxide causes brain injury. Mild brain injury is often called the “invisible injury.” Carbon monoxide is not only an “invisible killer”, it is also one of the main culprits in causing invisible injury, that is long term brain damage that alters how a human being thinks, feels, behaves and moves. Carbon monoxide, abbreviated “CO” is an invisible, odorless gas which can kill and cause permanent brain damage.

While the attention of the brain damage community has been focused on diagnosis and protocols for the treatment of those who survive concussion, the medical focus on CO poisoning has been focused only on those who die or are near death. After a protocol of oxygen is administered in the emergency room to someone who has survived carbon monoxide poisoning and a COHb level is taken, the overwhelming majority are released without any treatment recommendations or follow-up. But even more so than in a mild brain injury or concussion, those who survive CO exposure are at risk for a worsening of symptoms after discharge.

Click here for More on Carbon Monoxide Attorney Gordon Johnson

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Can Kill

It is the CO deaths that make the headlines. CO most often kills by depriving the heart of oxygen, causing the heart to stop beating. Unless the heart is restarted in minutes, death will result. But death is not the only kind of heart damage that can occur from carbon monoxide poisoning. CO can cause non-fatal heart attacks and other heart damage. Too often CO is not considered in the differential diagnosis in many of these situations, especially with people who might have been at risk from heart disease anyway.

Click here for Symptoms of and Treatment of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Sources of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Our treatment on Carbonmonoxide.com will first focus on how CO poisoning occurs indoors. We will  start with what can go wrong with furnaces, hot water heaters and ovens resulting in the release of CO in indoor air. This page will also have a major discussion on the risk factors of CO poisoning from operating gasoline burning engines indoors, including in garages. The biggest culprit in this area is electrical generators. CO can also occur on or near boats, in motor vehicles and in airplanes.

Carbon Monoxide from Furnaces and Hot Water Heaters

The first key to understanding CO exposure is that in general, CO is the result of incomplete combustion of a carbon based fuel, like oil and gas, even wood and charcoal. Generally, fuel burning appliances like ovens, furnaces, hot water heaters and gas dryers should burn clean enough that CO is not a serious risk factor. It is only when these appliances malfunction that significant levels of CO are released into indoor air. The more fuel these appliances are designed to burn, the greater the need that without proper venting, that a CO leak may occur indoors. By CO leak, we mean release of this poison gas into room air.

Proper venting not only requires sending exhaust gases outdoors, through a chimney or other vent pipe, but also assuring that there is sufficient oxygen for the fire (combustion) to burn completely. Thus, the larger the appliance, the more important that venting be provided for combustion air, which is usually outdoor air.  If there is a break or obstruction in either the exhaust venting or the combustion air intake, incomplete combustion may occur, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning.

To further understand the issues of the relationship between negative pressure and the formation of carbon monoxide poisoning, click here.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Hotels and Schools

Hotels are a particularly dangerous place for CO poisoning because people sleep there. When CO exposure occurs in the middle of the night, deaths are likely to result and those who survive are often severely poisoned. While not as likely to be fatal, CO also often strikes in schools and office buildings. In most of these of cases, it is older, poorly maintained furnaces and hot water heaters that are at fault. We will discuss each of these types of events in greater depth in our later pages.

How Does CO Occur in Hotels?

What is so scary about hotel CO events is that as the symptoms mimic the flu, many just fall asleep and never wake up. Many of the these poisonings stem from old boiler systems that are poorly maintained. The problem gets more serious when first line franchise hotels get sold to second level chains, with the building and business operated by those who have little experience with the hospitality and building management. Pool heaters are also a big culprit in hotels. CO detectors can saves lives, but only if those detectors are where there are people to hear them go off in the middle of the night. Click here for more information. 

How serious a problem is CO in Schools?

There have been three major CO school cases in the last few years. The Brain Injury Law Group represents more than 40 people poisoned in those events. Click here for more information.

Carbon monoxide exposure in Office Buildings?

Office building CO events are similar to those found in schools. While the levels can reach deadly levels, because multiple people get sick almost simultaneously, usually someone calls 911 and an evacuation occurs before they become deadly. But these type of poisoning events can occur day after day at levels that do not result in anyone getting sick. For more on chronic CO poisoning, click here. It is thought that until carboxyhemoglobin levels get to 20%, that most people are not going to vomit or pass out. Brain damage clearly begins to occur in a significant proportion of those exposed at 10% levels. For more on CO in office buildings, click here.

Carbon Monoxide Symptoms Include Headache, Nausea and Lightheadedness

The symptoms that often alarm people to the existence of CO are headaches, nausea, vomiting and lightheadedness. Unfortunately, many of the early symptoms of CO poisoning mimic flu or other viral illness. When numerous people are being poisoned simultaneously, it is often someone passing out that warns that something environmental is wrong. When the second person gets comparably sick, others less impacted often realize that something other than the flu is going on. Too often people who suffer CO poisoning think they are suffering food poisoning. This can happen even when multiple people are being poisoned at once, because they may have eaten the same food. In either case, 911 should be called and they should first rule out the presence of carbon monoxide. First responders should have accurate CO detectors. In the case of suspected CO exposure, get outside immediately. Don’t wait for the first responders.