A mother who was rushed to hospital after her children found her and her husband unconscious from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning remains in an induced coma nine days later.
The couple were discovered unconscious and unresponsive inside the bedroom of their home in Westminster, north of Perth, by their teenage children on June 25.
At least five ambulances were called to the home, where the woman in her 40s and the man in his 50s were treated by paramedics, including a critical care team.
Nine days after the incident, the woman is still fighting for her life in the intensive care unit at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
Her husband has been discharged from the hospital.
It is understood that coal had been burning in an unventilated bedroom where the couple had been sleeping and trying to keep warm.
The family is believed to have recently moved into the house.
Acting Fire and Emergency Services Officer Luke Miles said the couple were exposed to possible carbon monoxide poisoning “over a long period of time.”
The couple was discovered by their teenage children, who called triple-000 (in the photo, the emergency services at the scene)
The mother, aged in her 40s, is still in intensive care, but her husband has been discharged from hospital (pictured, paramedics at the scene).
“They were using (the coal) as a source of heat in the bedroom… where the two victims were,” he told reporters.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) District Officer John Manocchio said the couple’s children helped save their parents’ lives because of their quick reaction, he said. PerthNow.
“It’s tragic, but it’s a testament to the actions of those children to alert the authorities and air out the house,” he said.
“When the firefighters arrived with the detectors, they didn’t actually detect any carbon monoxide in the house because it was so well ventilated.”
Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause a variety of symptoms including headache, nausea and vomiting, while exposure to very high levels can cause loss of consciousness, seizures and death.
The incident is an important reminder for Australians this winter to be wary of carbon monoxide and to only use suitable indoor heaters.
The couple are believed to have been heating coals in their unventilated bedroom to keep warm. The scene is pictured here.
“The important safety message around this is obviously that when burning any material inside an enclosed space, (you) want to make sure you have a well-ventilated area,” Miles said.
Recently, there have been other cases of people being exposed to carbon monoxide when trying to heat their homes with an inadequate heat source and without ventilation.
Four people, including a child, were taken to hospital on June 29 after a family of five used an outdoor barbecue to heat their apartment in Wentworthville, western Sydney.
“Firefighters at the scene said CO (carbon monoxide) levels inside the unit were more than four times the dangerous limit,” Fire and Rescue NSW said in a statement.
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital clinical toxicologist Jason Armstrong said: 7NEWS Carbon monoxide “slowly builds up in the body” and eventually deprives a person’s cells of oxygen.
Mr. Armstrong warned that if a person suspects someone has been exposed to carbon monoxide, they should get them outside immediately.
“The priority is to get them out into fresh air, give them supplemental oxygen and get them to a medical facility as quickly as possible,” he said.
