By Christopher Dela Cruz
The Star-Ledger
MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Time can be crucial in properly diagnosing a case of carbon monoxide poisoning — a condition that can lead to organ problems, brain damage and even death in extreme cases.
Traditional blood testing for carbon monoxide levels often requires a trip to the hospital and hours of waiting for results, but for the past year a handful of Monroe Township ambulances have been outfitted with the “RAD-57 Pulse CO-Oximeter” — a noninvasive way of detecting possible carbon monoxide poisoning in a matter of seconds.
Last week, the township committed to buying enough of the $4,000 units to provide all 16 of the rescue squad’s ambulances with the RAD-57 device, making Monroe the first township in the state to be fully equipped with the carbon monoxide screeners, officials said.
“An unconscious victim can’t say they’re having the signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Dana Banks, spokeswoman for Masimo Corporation, the company that began selling the devices in 2005. “If you put the sensor on their finger, you can tell before that person gains consciousness what and how to treat them to save their life or eliminate any long-term damage.”
RAD-57 works by placing a clip-like sensor over a finger tip. Through a finger-nail, a beam of light is able to read carbon monoxide levels, oxygen levels and a patient’s pulse within five seconds.
Common initial symptoms for carbon monoxide poisoning include dizziness, vomiting and chest pain, which can easily be misdiagnosed as other ailments like the flu, said Robert Draco, the operations coordinator for the Monroe EMS.
“When a patient has headaches, nausea, it could be almost anything,” said Draco. “Now you’re narrowing it down. It’s another diagnostic tool.”
Because the device provides results instantaneously, it allows rescue workers to more rapidly determine the source of the carbon monoxide and take evacuation measures for others if necessary. It also helps prevent the possibility of treating a patient and then sending the person back to the location where the carbon monoxide gas was present without addressing the source of the problem.
As many as 11,000 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning go undetected annually, according to a study done at Rhode Island Hospital and printed in the Journal of Emergency Medicine. An average of 480 people die each year from unintentional, non-fire related exposure to carbon monoxide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2003, New Jersey law requires carbon monoxide alarms in multifamily dwellings, hotels, new one-family homes and in existing homes when they are sold. Carbon monoxide poisoning is often caused by combustion fumes, engines, stoves, burning charcoal and wood, gas ranges and heating systems.