Houston sees spike in carbon monoxide poisoning visits

HOUSTON – The Houston chronicle reports that an abnormally high number of patients have sought care for carbon monoxide poisoning this week in the Houston area, health officials and doctors said Thursday, as Hurricane Beryl knocked out power for millions and left many relying on portable generators. “I think we’re on record pace here unfortunately,” said Dr. Joseph Nevarez, a UTHealth Houston professor and director of hyperbaric medicine and wound care at Memorial Hermann — Texas Medical Center. Hurricane Beryl on Monday knocked out power for more than 2 million households, 1 million of whom still do not have power as of Thursday. Since the storm swept through Houston, four to eight patients per day have needed to use Memorial Hermann’s hyperbaric chamber, which delivers pure, pressurized oxygen and is usually reserved for the most severe cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, Nevarez said.

Other patients have needed lower levels of care in the hospital’s emergency room. The problem has further strained busy Houston emergency rooms and illustrated what health professionals say is a lack of education about an increasingly popular piece of machinery in the storm-stricken region. While the number of carbon monoxide poisoning complaints usually increase with power outages, the Houston Health Department said the current volume stands out. Surveillance from medical facilities in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties found 116 carbon monoxide-related visits from midnight Monday to 10:45 a.m. Thursday morning, according to data provided by the health department. “The Houston Health Department has not seen it spike so high as it did the past couple of days,” including the during the May derecho and Winter Storm Uri in 2021, said health department spokesman Porfirio Villarreal.