It’s a cold winter evening in the Sen household. Sasha and her family are at home in Delhi. To keep temperatures warm, they use a space heater that depends on a small propane tank. In one poorly ventilated room, this family relaxes without realising that the heater has a tiny gas leak.
A few hours of using the heater pass. Sasha begins to feel dizzy and lightheaded. Her husband gets a headache and starts feeling tired. The two children they have complain about nausea. First, they think the symptoms are because of cold weather or exhaustion.
As the evening progressed, their condition got worse. Sasha and her husband feel confused and disoriented. They finally realise the air they’ve been breathing feels musty and strange. They tried opening a window for ventilation, but it was too late. The carbon monoxide levels in the room have reached critical levels.
And just like that, a family of four perished. Was this preventable? Probably. Should Sasha and her husband have realised they were breathing in poison? Probably.
In 2021, 28,900 people died from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning worldwide.
That’s 28,900 perfectly healthy people and completely preventable deaths.
Carbon monoxide takes no hostages. If you breathe it, there’s very little chance of survival. The only problem with carbon monoxide is that it is a colourless, odourless, and tasteless gas, so it cannot be detected by humans using their senses. Imagine a gas so deadly, you wouldn’t even realise if you were breathing it. By the time you realise it, it will be too late. You would be just another victim of this poisonous gas. So, what are the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning? Here are the seven signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.