Storm-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

By Rubicon Foundation editorial team

5 min read · 22 October 2026

Storm-related carbon monoxide poisoning: lessons learned from recent epidemics is a 2006 journal article by Hampson NB and Stock AL. Published in Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine, it addresses carbon monoxide poisoning associated with storms—a subject relevant to emergency medicine and hyperbaric care because the gas can impair oxygen delivery without obvious warning.

Why can storms lead to carbon monoxide exposure?

Severe weather can disrupt electricity and other essential services, prompting people to use fuel-burning equipment for heat or power. If combustion takes place in an enclosed or poorly ventilated space, carbon monoxide may accumulate. The gas is colourless and odourless, so people cannot reliably detect it through their senses.

This creates a public-health problem that combines environmental conditions, human behaviour and delayed recognition. Several people in one location may be exposed, and early symptoms can resemble common illnesses. The storm connection therefore matters not only as a medical topic, but also as a problem of prevention, exposure awareness and coordinated response.

How does carbon monoxide interfere with oxygen delivery?

Oxygen must travel from the lungs through the bloodstream to support the brain, heart and other tissues. Carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells, and reduces the blood’s capacity to transport oxygen. It can also interfere with oxygen release to tissues, making the effects more complex than a simple shortage of oxygen in the surrounding air.

Symptoms can include headache, dizziness, nausea, weakness, confusion and loss of consciousness. Their severity depends on the exposure and the person’s condition, and symptoms alone cannot reliably establish how serious the poisoning is. A person who has been exposed may need urgent medical assessment even if they initially feel better after leaving the contaminated environment.

What does hyperbaric medicine contribute?

Care for suspected poisoning begins with ending exposure and assessing the patient. Oxygen is central to treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy delivers oxygen in a pressurised chamber and is considered in some cases, but treatment decisions depend on clinical circumstances and require medical judgement.

The subject sits at the intersection of emergency medicine, toxicology and hyperbaric medicine. For clinicians, the challenge includes recognising a potentially serious exposure, assessing neurological and cardiac concerns, and deciding whether specialist or chamber-based care is appropriate. The article’s title also places storm-associated episodes in a broader discussion of how clusters of exposure are understood and managed.

Why should divers and diving clinicians care?

Carbon monoxide poisoning is not a decompression illness, but it belongs in the wider medical knowledge of diving and hyperbaric practice. Divers and scientific diving teams may encounter combustion equipment in boats, vehicles, work areas or temporary shelters. Any combustion source used near people raises questions about ventilation, exhaust pathways and the possibility of contaminated air.

Hyperbaric clinicians also need to distinguish carbon monoxide poisoning from other conditions that can affect consciousness or neurological function. In diving medicine, careful assessment of exposure history and the circumstances surrounding symptoms is a familiar principle. Understanding toxic oxygen-transport problems adds useful context to that work without confusing poisoning with pressure-related injury.

Which concepts help frame the subject?

Readers can approach storm-related poisoning through a few connected ideas. These concepts help explain why exposure may go unnoticed, why symptoms can be serious and why clinical decisions can involve more than one specialty.

Exposure: Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete combustion; accumulation is a risk where ventilation is inadequate.
Oxygen transport: Haemoglobin binding and impaired tissue oxygen delivery are central to the poisoning’s physiology.
Recognition: Symptoms can be nonspecific, so the exposure circumstances are important to clinical assessment.
Hyperbaric care: Pressurised oxygen is a treatment consideration in selected cases, not an automatic response to every exposure.
Prevention: Safe placement and ventilation of fuel-burning equipment are essential safeguards during power or heating disruptions.

Frequently asked questions

What is the publication about?

It addresses carbon monoxide poisoning associated with storms and the relevance of such episodes to emergency and hyperbaric medicine.

Why is carbon monoxide difficult to detect?

The gas has no colour or smell. Exposure may therefore continue unnoticed, while early symptoms can resemble other illnesses.

Is hyperbaric oxygen used for every carbon monoxide exposure?

No. Hyperbaric oxygen may be considered in selected cases; assessment and treatment decisions belong to qualified medical professionals. Anyone with a possible exposure should seek urgent medical evaluation, and divers should consult a diving-medicine physician about fitness to return to diving.

Citation details

Title: Storm-related carbon monoxide poisoning: lessons learned from recent epidemics
Authors: Hampson NB; Stock AL
Year: 2006
Published in: Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine 33(4): 257–63
Identifiers: PMID 17004412
Record type: Journal article
Repository record: Rubicon Research Repository, handle 123456789/5054

This page is an original summary written by the Rubicon editors from the publication’s bibliographic record. It does not reproduce the paper, its abstract or its data; consult the publication itself for its methods and findings.