Carbon monoxide poisoning spikes this time of year, warns B.C. doctor

When the temperatures cool in the late fall and in the winter, Vancouver hospitals see an average of 31 emergency department visits a month from patients suffering from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.

That’s a significant increase compared to the average of 19 visits during the warmer months.

Carbon monoxide is often called the “silent killer,” because it’s an invisible, odourless gas that often goes undetected.

“Sadly it often poisons and kills people while they sleep,” said Dr. Afshin Khazei, medical director in Vancouver General Hospital’s Hyperbaric Unit.

“We've had very intelligent, thoughtful people get … carbon monoxide poisoning by doing things that seem like reasonable things,” he added.

CO is produced by burning any fossil fuel, including gasoline, diesel, propane, firewood and charcoal.

In the fall, people tend to close their home’s doors and windows, and begin firing up their furnaces.

“Sometimes those furnaces are not ventilating properly or they're not running efficiently,” cautioned Khazei.

“Then late in the winter when we have power outages, or people’s central home heating isn’t working well, they do things they maybe normally wouldn't do,” he explained. “Like operate a propane powered heater inside their home, or they run a generator in their garage, where they think it's separate from their home, but we‘ve certainly seen cases of carbon monoxide poisoning with both of those things.”

Initial symptoms of CO poisoning include headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

More severe cases can lead to confusion, seizures and heart attack.

Khazei is urging everyone to ensure they have carbon monoxide detectors in their homes, with fresh batteries installed.