Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Last Saturday Stephen and I had carbon monoxide poisoning. To make a long story short, we didn't have the ventilation we needed with the gas heater on while we were working in my Daddy's wood shop. We started to get headaches and feel lightheaded so we stopped working and went up stairs for some fresh air. We thought that our headaches would just go away, but as the night progressed our heads and symptoms became worse. A few of our symptoms were headaches, lightheaded, dizziness, nausea, and trouble thinking straight. We decided to go into the ER. There we found that Steve's level was 15, he got poked first because he has better veins and felt worse then I did. Because this was pretty high they but the both of us on oxygen and then attempted to get blood from me to test it. Note that I said attempted! I was poked FIVE, yes FIVE, times to try to get blood. Two of those sticks being arterial, straight down in your wrist to the artery. Yes, this was very painful, but I am tough so I could handle it... (it's a good thing Steve has good veins... I don't think he would have made it through this~) Anyways, so my level was 9.5 which was good for being on 100% oxygen for 30 minutes. So now all we did was wait and breath in the clean oxygen. Steve loved this. He said that it was the cleanest air he probably will ever breath in. It gave me a tummy ache. But it did help my head. After getting oxygen for about 1 1/2 hours they re-drew Steve's blood and he came back with a 6.75. They let us go home and told us to fix that heater, stay away from smokers, and get plenty of fresh air.
First of all I have to say how grateful I am that we went to the ER. Despite our bill that will be coming! I am grateful that we are all fine. I couldn't help but think about the time that we almost lost our brother, Brandon, to this deadly poison. It is scary to think that it could have been worse. I would like you all to be aware how dangerous this is. It is very important that you all have carbon monoxide detectors in your homes. I know that if you live in Utah, Sandy's fire department will give you one for free. I want you all to know that we love you all and are really grateful for all your help. Thank you Dad (Norman) for coming to stay with Kinley while we went to the ER. Thank you also to Dad (Lani) for making us leave the shop and get fresh air when we did. We love you both so very much.


A bit on carbon monoxide poisoning-
Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs as carbon monoxide mixes and binds with hemoglobin in the blood to form carboxyhemoglobin (COHb). The process of carbon monoxide binding to hemoglobin reduces the amount of oxygen being transported to body tissue and other vital organs such as the brain and heart. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin approximately 250 times more strongly than oxygen does. Because of this it takes large amount of high pressure oxygen to knock that CO off the binding site of the hemoglobin. It is very important that you seek medical attention if you feel like you have been exposed to this poison.