A Preestimate injury severities of victims who suffered from carbon monoixde and hypoxic effect in fire field with ful-scaled fire experiment.
- Author:
Moo Eob AHN
;
Ki Cheol YOU
;
Keun Jeong SONG
- Publication Type:Original Article
- MeSH:
Anoxia;
Carbon*;
Fires*;
Headache;
Humans;
Mass Casualty Incidents;
Oxygen;
Time Factors;
Triage;
United Nations
- From:Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
1997;8(4):597-604
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: The fire victims are affected not only by bum and trauma but also carbon monoxide(CO) and hypoxia. It may be useful to triage mass casualties of fire field that preestimate the victim's injury sevrrities by experiments of measuring the concentration of CO and oxygen according to time progression. METHOD: We prepared one house of apartment as like usual residental environment. The mesuring of concentrations of CO and oxygen was started from firing. RESULT: 3.8 Min. after firing: CO concentration(0.007%) was reached to the level that can give rise to spontaneous headache. 5 Min.: The concentration of CO was incerased. At this level(0.012%), the victims of fire may be suffered severe headache inspite of mild movement. 5.5 Min.: At this time,0.02% of CO concentration that the victims can't escape by themselves was checked. 6 Min.; 0.08% was measured, almost patients may be unconscious and the symptoms will be more severe at this CO concentration because of hypoxia.6.4 Min.: It was absolutly impossible to be survival at this time due to incresing of CO concentration(0.195%) and decreasing of O2 concentration(5%). CONCLUSION: It is within 5.5 Min. that the patient can escape by themselves, and impossible to be survival more than 6.5 Min. in fire field. Rescuers and EMTs must consider time factor as well as sysmtoms of patients.
