Weekly Topic...
Carbon monoxide and camping
Campers
beware -- as temperatures drop at night, bringing a charcoal fire or propane gas stove
inside to warm up a tent could cause potentially life-threatening carbon monoxide
poisoning.
To avoid
hazardous carbon monoxide exposures, fuel-burning equipment such as camping stoves,
camping heaters, lanterns and charcoal grills should never be used inside a tent, camper
or other enclosed shelter. Opening tent flaps, doors, or windows is insufficient to
prevent build-up of carbon monoxide concentrations from these devices.
Carbon
monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is released during the incomplete combustion of
fossil fuels. Between 1,000 and 1,500 deaths due to accidental carbon monoxide poisoning
occurred every year in the US, and most people associate poisonings with a build-up of the
gas in homes or cars.
Carbon
monoxide is 200 to 250 times more efficient than oxygen at binding to hemoglobin, the
blood molecule that ferries oxygen throughout the body. But carbon monoxide bound to
hemoglobin robs it of its ability to carry oxygen, resulting in tissue hypoxia, or oxygen
starvation.
The
symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, dizziness and nausea, but campers
trying to ward off the cold at night may never arouse sufficiently from sleep to be alert
to the signs.
Camping
stoves and heaters are not designed to be used indoors and can emit hazardous amounts of
carbon monoxide, and smoldering charcoal emits large amounts of carbon monoxide. Inside a
tent or camper, these sources produce dangerous
concentrations of carbon monoxide, which becomes even more dangerous to sleeping persons
who are unable to recognize the early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Disclaimer
This information is being provided by Axiom Medical Consulting, LLC as a service. Users of
this information should make appropriate analysis and check the information to their own
satisfaction. Axiom does not warrant or represent, expressly or implied, the correctness
or accuracy of the content of the information presented in this e-mail, nor can they
accept liability or responsibility whatsoever for the consequences of its use or misuse by
anyone.
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