With the temperature expected to plummet to a frigid (by San Antonio standards) 30℉ Friday night, some San Antonians who aren’t used to cold weather may try to find creative ways to weather San Antonio’s first freeze of 2016 – and risk exposing themselves to deadly carbon monoxide gas in the process.
From bringing barbecue grills indoors to using ovens as heating devices to starting fires in uninspected chimneys, emergency room doctors like Dr. Dale Crockett of the Greater San Antonio Emergency Physicians group have seen plenty of cases where trying to get out of the cold led to carbon monoxide poisoning – which is why Dr. Crockett went on News 4 WOAI’s Evening Break to make sure San Antonians avoid the fate of the more than 400 people who die each year from this odorless, colorless gas.
While many of the causes of carbon monoxide poisoning are obvious, others are more insidious – like the leaky apartment complex water heater that sent multiple people to the emergency room in February of 2014. Fortunately, Dr. Crockett recognized one of the patient’s flu-like symptoms as carbon monoxide poisoning, and dispatched emergency crews out to the apartment.
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Watch this video to find out what happened next, and how you can recognize the symptoms and the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning in your own home.