26-year old Randal McCloy has been transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital to undergo additional treatment with the help of a hyperbaric chamber. The chamber delivers continuous one-hundred-percent oxygen to the body. In McCloy's instance its an effort to help restore vital organs deprived of oxygen in this case because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Northern Nevada Medical Center's Emergency Room Doctor Bill Davis says, treating such patients is no easy task." We really don't have a lot of great treatments for this. It is not like we can give you a shot and make you better. Once the carbon monoxide gets onto the hemoglobin molecule it does not want to come off. That's where you run into problems because people get too much carbon monoxide into their system and then they are getting no oxygen into their brain."
While mining experts in our area say an explosion like the one in West Virginia cannot happen here in Nevada...there still are dangers posed in exploring mines in our state.
Ten years ago, Virginia City resident John Montgomery and a colleague entered the Savage Mine and never came out.
Investigators say the two hit a pocket of carbon dioxide and suffocated to death.
Like carbon monoxide carbon dioxide is colorless or ordorless...
But you probably have a greater chance of encountering carbon monoxide and its health ramifications.
Dr. Davis says he sees patients who have been accidentially exposed at home. "There is always the automobiles that are started up in the garage to warm them up, with the doors clothes and bringing devices into the home like a b-b-q, really a bad idea."
Davis says he often sees patients who feel light headed or have headaches and feel nauseated.
Entire families may arrive at the Emergency Room with the same symptoms.
That's why Dr. Davis believes wholeheartedly in Carbon Monoxide detectors for the home.
You can find such detectors at local hardware stores where prices range from $20 to $50.