Every day, thousands of calls are generated to emergency medical systems to summons help for numerous reasons. One of the most frightening calls a dispatcher can receives are those involving a patient who is not breathing or is struggling to breathe. One very common problem that goes unseen due to its colorless, odorless and tasteless properties, and is a major worldwide public health problem, is poisoning from carbon monoxide (Graber et al 2007). According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, 2000 Americans die each year from accidental exposure to carbon monoxide and another 2,300 from intentional exposure (suicide).
Carbon monoxide is naturally produced in our bodies in small amounts and released as a by-product by cell metabolism (Thompson, 1997). Also, we are exposed to relatively low concentrations of carbon monoxide through the combustion of fuel for the motor vehicles we drive everyday and portable gas heaters we may use in the winter to stay warm. Poisoning from carbon monoxide can occur anywhere there is carbon containing fuels that are being burned and the supply of oxygen is limited. This can be an acute poisoning when exposed to high levels such as a fire or low level poisoning over a longer period of time.
Inhaled through the lungs, carbon monoxide interferes with the ability of the blood to carry oxygen to the tissues. In the blood, there are millions of red blood cells that contain an intracellular protein called hemoglobin. Each hemoglobin molecule can carry four oxygen molecules. Hemoglobin is the main transported of oxygen, carrying around 98% of the oxygen in the blood, with the remainder 2% carried in the dissolved state (Porth 2011). If all four subuni...
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It is very important to understand the relationship of oxygen saturation to the partial pressure of oxygen. The total oxygen content and factors that affect the curves affinity of hemoglobin to oxygen will help give a better understanding and explanation of clinical problems when presented with the possibility of poisoning by carbon monoxide.
References:
Graber JM,Macdonald SC, Kass BE, Smith AE, Anderson HA (2007 Carbon monoxide: the case for environmental public health surveillance. Public Health Reports. 122,2,138-144.
Hardy KR, Thom SR (1994) Pathophysiology and treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning. Journal of Toxicology – Clinical Toxicology. 32, 6, 613- 629.
Porth Carol Mattson (2011) Essentials of Pathophysiology. 3rd ed. page 531.
Thompson, June, et al. Mosby’s Clinical Nursing. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby, 1997.
The circulatory system and respiratory system share a highly important relationship that is crucial to maintaining the life of an organism. In order for bodily processes to be performed, energy to be created, and homeostasis to be maintained, the exchange of oxygen from the external environment to the intracellular environment is performed by the relationship of these two systems. Starting at the heart, deoxygenated/carbon-dioxide (CO2)-rich blood is moved in through the superior and inferior vena cava into the right atrium, then into the right ventricle when the heart is relaxed. As the heart contracts, the deoxygenated blood is pumped through the pulmonary arteries to capillaries in the lungs. As the organism breathes and intakes oxygenated air, oxygen is exchanged with CO2 in the blood at the capillaries. As the organism breathes out, it expels the CO2 into the external environment. For the blood in the capillaries, it is then moved into pulmonary veins and make
Carbon Monoxide can be found any and everywhere. Cars, trucks, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces do hold and produce Carbon Monoxide. It is easy to ingest, just breathe. Ahhh how do you feel
Carbon monoxide is a major component in smoke from fires. It can cause a loss of mental acuity, acute nausea and severe headaches (Reinhardt 33). Death can occur at extreme levels of this intoxication and it can even cause shortness of breath and dizziness (Reinhardt 35). It may not seem like it is that bad, but one must consider that these things add up and can really affect their health and well-being. The carbon monoxide levels tend to shoot up when the wind speed goes up during daily exposure (U.S. Department of Agriculture 3). It also depends on what kind of duties you have as a firefighter; because those with the highest level of carbon monoxide in their system were a part of the direct attack and those with the least were the fire starters (U.S. Department of Agriculture 3). Carbon monoxide is a powerful poison that can kill you and it is absolut...
When these materials burn, they give off hazardous and toxic chemicals, including carbon monoxides (CO), hydrogen sulfides (H2S), and hydrogen cyanides (HCN). The smoke from these materials puts first responders who are not wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) at risk for long-term health illness from chronic conditions or cumulative exposures or immediate death. The public also is at risk, making smoke inhalation the leading cause of death during structure fires (McCreedie, J.,
Thesis: As the environment encounters damage from increasing levels of carbon dioxide, actions on both governmental and individual levels need to be implemented in order to protect the welfare of future life.
The signs and symptoms of respiratory distress can be presented clinically as hypoxemia which characterized as a po2 below 50 mmHg and hypercapnia which is an excessive CO2 level in the bloodstream above 45 mmHg. The signs that will manifest on the patient are dyspnea, hyperpnea, intercostal retractions, and cyanosis on digitals. The patient will present anxious and restless and if deteriorate he can be altered. Children can present with the same symptoms along with nasal flaring, retractions, grunting and irritable and later lethargic as he deteriorates his level of consciousness. Nursing interventions include to monitor patient and protect the airway along with preparing for an oral airway insertion or a tracheostomy. Essential interventions may also include raising the head of the bed, suctioning present secretions, monitoring lung sounds for a pneumothorax, monitoring the respiratory effort and depending on the situation we can provide emotional support to decrease the level of anxiety in order to help the patient not work against the o2 delivery method and maximize the
or a supply of carbon monoxide gas. These are just some examples of what a physician might
. In the activity when Hyperventilation occurs there is not enough carbon dioxide in the blood. During hyperventilation the tidal volume is larger, which removes the carbon dioxide faster than it can replenish it. This is also called respiratory alkalosis; the renal system is able to compensate for respiratory alkalosis by increasing the partial pressure of the carbon dioxide levels and then decreasing the pH levels. In the experiment when we went from normal breathing to hyperventilation our Min Pco2 went from 40 to 25.94. Our pH then went from 7.40 to 7.58 max pH. When the hyperventilation stopped and the trace flat lined, this showed that the breathing was suspended. The body had to restore the Pco2 levels back to the normal value.
In order to function properly your body relies on oxygen. (O'Connell, K. (2017, March 13).) Whenever you take a breath in you allow oxygen into your lungs. When you release a breath you release carbon monoxide along with it. Respiratory alkalosis is when you breathe too fast or too deep and your carbon dioxide levels drop too low. This raises the pH of blood to pH levels above 7.45, making it become too alkaline. This is a common acid-base disorder in the elderly. This results from increased ventilation and may delay recovery, prolong hospitalizations, and affect clinical outcomes. (O'Connell, K. (2017, March
The respiratory system is a complex organ structure of the human body anatomy, and the primary purpose of this system is to supply the blood with oxygen in order for the blood vessels to carry the precious gaseous element to all parts of the body to accomplish cell respiration. The respiratory system completes this important function of breathing throughout inspiration. In the breathing process inhaling oxygen is essential for cells to metabolize nutrients and carry out some other tasks, but it must occur simultaneously with exhaling when the carbon dioxide is excreted, this exchange of gases is the respiratory system's means of getting oxygen to the blood (McGowan, Jefferies & Turley, 2004).
Tobacco’s short-terms effects are a lot more serious health wise. When a person smokes a cigarette, the body responds immediately to the chemical nicotine in the smoke. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate, and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow. Carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. This, combined with the effects produced by nicotine, creates an imbalance in the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood is able to supply.
For compensatory mechanisms to work we would need to hypo ventilate in order to retain CO2, but stimulation of brain chemoreceptors with an elevated PaCO2 blunts the hypoventilation required to fully correct the pH. As a result, the respiratory system can only help retain CO2 to no greater than 50-55 mm Hg to compensate for the metabolic alkalosis (UCR, 2017).
Nitrous oxide is usually the gas used in specific dental procedures that might bring discomfort to the patient in ways of pain and irritation. The gas is used as a anesthetic agent because of the depressant effect on the central nervous system (Vines, 2016). Large, but also unsafe amounts of N₂O have to be used to have a anesthetic effect on a patient; copious amounts of nitrous oxide is deadly if the amount administered is not managed. The ratio of twenty percent oxygen with eighty percent of nitrogen or thirty percent oxygen for seventy percent of nitrogen must be kept because nitrous oxide can not sustain life alone. Being exposed to nitrous oxide for long periods of time can lead to nerve malfunctions, neuropathy, in patients. In pregnant women, spontaneous abortion or other fetal diseases may occur (Vines, 2016). Another hazard of nitrous oxide is its shared ability with oxygen to support combustion. If there is combustible material, an ignitor, and nitrous oxide, a large fire may result and severe burns can be inflicted on the
Carbon Monoxide is a colourless and inodorous toxic gas produced through the incomplete combustion of different carbon-based fuels, such as in products and apparatuses motorised by internal combustion engines (Carbon Monoxide Questions and Answers, n.d.), that have failed to convert carbon or carbon-based fuels into carbon dioxide (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014). CO production can also occur naturally when volcanoes erupt, releasing the poisonous gas into the atmosphere. CO is used as an aid to engineer organic and inorganic chemical products (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014), in fuel gas mixtures for heating in metal production, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing, to reduce ores and make metal carbonyls, and to fabricate and renew catalysts. “High purity CO is also used for electronic and semiconductor applications” (The Linde Group, 2013). Figure 1 shows the general equation for the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons to produce carbon monoxide.
Many health issues are caused by smoking cigarettes, but cardiovascular disease and lung cancer are the main effects of it. Carbon monoxide is the chemical compound found in cigarettes that causes cardiovascular disease; it “reduces the blood 's capacity to carry oxygen to heart and other organs thus causing angina or chest pain, aneurysm, stroke and gangrene” (Anurupa). According to Dr. Anurupa, “smoking can cause the blood to clot up because the carbon monoxide thickens the blood and it will increase the fatty substances in the blood stream, as a result of heart attack.” Nicotine is another harmful chemical compound within cigarettes that can cause harmful health effects to the body, like lung cancer. With lung cancer, smokers have “difficulties with breathing, feeling weak, and keep coughing” (Yoder 1). The chances for smokers to recover from lung cancer are low even if it is discovered in an early stage; this is a disease that takes a long period of time to recover. Smokers should not have to suffer from these horrible health problems. Banning smoking in all indoor and outdoor public places will help to reduce the number of smokers suffering from these horrible