Need help right now?
If someone needs immediate help with carbon monoxide, use emergency mode.
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DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — People in a closed room with heater, generator, or car exhaust feel headache, nausea, or confusion — carbon monoxide is odorless.
The essentials if you need to act right now.
Everyone outside now. Call 112. Do not go back in. CPR if needed.
What might I see? Observable signs — no diagnosis required.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Headache, dizziness, nausea in everyone in same room.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Cherry-red skin (late sign); confusion, collapse, seizures.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Running generator, burning charcoal, or car engine in enclosed space.
Optional deeper explanation — not required to act.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Carbon monoxide binds blood instead of oxygen. Victims often feel "flu-like" then collapse without warning.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Common sources: generator indoors, charcoal in closed room, faulty gas heater, car in garage.
Check the scene before you approach.
Civilian-safe actions you can take.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Open doors/windows if quick, then evacuate all people and pets.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Call 112 from outside.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — If awake — sit in fresh air, loosen clothing. Monitor breathing.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — CPR for unresponsive non-breathing victims.
When and how to get professional help.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Identify what was taken, call Poison Control and emergency services, and follow their instructions. Do not guess treatments.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Call 112. Say: "Carbon monoxide exposure — multiple people with headache/confusion."
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Report source (generator, heater, car) and number affected.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Hyperbaric oxygen may be needed — all symptomatic exposures need hospital evaluation.
Dangerous actions, when not to attempt rescue, and common myths.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Do NOT re-enter to turn off appliance if others are already out — tell fire service.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Do NOT assume headache is just flu if multiple people affected.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — You can smell carbon monoxide leaking
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — CO is odorless and colorless. Symptoms in a group with a fuel-burning device indoors suggest CO.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Staying indoors to investigate smell while accumulating dose.
Other scenarios in the same family.
Child swallowed poison
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — A child has swallowed household cleaner, medicine, plants, or another toxic substance. Small amounts can be serious in children.
Alcohol poisoning
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — A person who drank heavily is unconscious, vomiting, breathing slowly, or cannot be woken — beyond normal drunkenness.
Adult swallowed poison
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — An adult has swallowed an unknown or known toxic substance — household chemical, medicine, or other poison.
Button battery
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Someone swallowed a small coin-shaped battery from a toy, remote, or watch. It can burn through tissue within hours.