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Date: | Tue, 23 Mar 1999 17:26:32 -0700 |
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On Tue, 23 Mar 1999, Deryk Barker wrote:
>According to Alan Sanders' ...
>
> ... The room was cold and Argenta suggested that until it became warm
>he and his companion should sit in the car. In the closed garage with
>the engine running, neither party realised the danger of carbon monoxide
>poisoning. The student became unconscious and was revived, but Argenta
>perished.
The problem is that red blood cells, which transport oxygen (O2), have
a 240 times greater affinity for CO than O2. When carbon monoxide (CO)
is present, the blood eagerly gobbles up every molecule in preference to
the life-giving oxygen. This affinity makes it hard to remove this deadly
poison. There is a time lag between removing the victim from CO contact
and purging the red cells of their deadly CO. Thus victims of CO can be
conscious on arrival at a hospital and still die.
Argenta's death should remind everyone with a gas furnace or boiler of
the importance of assuring that it is functioning properly. I too wish
Argenta had completed his career.
Doug Purl
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