Omaha, NE – Omaha resident Kim Waszgis-Vaca’s relative was working on his car as he had done many times before. He hooked up an exhaust pump to direct the gas outside as he had done many times before. Unknown to him the wind was blowing the odorless, colorless gas right back into his garage.
Before too long the man in the garage began to suffer the lack of oxygen and the oppressive CO gas.
When Kim went to check on him she found him in an odd condition. She described it as “Drunk times 100.” The effects of carbon monoxide are strange as they make the exposed person feel light headed or even funny.
For Kim however it was no laughing matter.
“The carbon monoxide wasn’t being vented out like it should have been. Had they been in there a little bit longer he wouldn’t be here.” Kim said remembering that frightening day.
She immediately knew something was wrong, so she called poison control.
Kim hoped that since the event happened so long before they found him that some of the poison had gotten out of his system. That was not the case.
Once in your system carbon monoxide attaches to cells and can cause permanent damage to those affected.
After speaking with Poison Control Kim rushed the man to the emergency room at Nebraska Medicine to check his CO levels. Kim says the results were shocking.
“A normal person’s 3-5, a smoker is 4-6 his was 31. They were very shocked that he was alive.”
The medical team got right to work and hooked him up to 100% oxygen and placed him in a hyperbaric chamber, the only way to expose him to the pure oxygen his body was in desperate need of.
Kim says they were lucky that the incident wasn’t fatal.
For information on how to spot carbon monoxide poisoning, or any other exposure to poisonous materials and the steps to take visit Poison Control’s website.