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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Expired CO2 Measurement in Intubated or Spontaneously Breathing Patients from the Emergency Department
Published on: January 29, 2011
Residential carbon monoxide poisoning from motor vehicles
1Department of Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. neil.hampson@vmmc.org
Context:
Although morbidity and mortality from accidental carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are high in the United States, identification of common but poorly recognized sources should help prevention efforts.
Objective:
The study aimed to describe CO poisoning of home occupants due to a vehicle left running in an attached garage.
Design:
News stories reporting incidents of US CO poisoning were collected daily from March 2007 to September 2009 via a news.Google.com search and data extracted.
Patients:
Patients were individuals reported in the media to have been poisoned with CO in their home by a vehicle running in the attached garage.
Main Outcome Measures:
Main outcome measures were frequency of occurrence, geographic distribution, patient demographics, and mortality.
Results:
Of 837 CO poisoning incidents reported in US news media over 2 and a half years, 59 (8%) were the result of a vehicle left running in the garage. The elderly were disproportionately affected, with incidents most common in states with larger elderly populations and 29% of cases with age specified occurring in individuals older than 80 years. Among those older than 80 years, 15 of 17 were found dead at the scene.
Conclusions:
Residential CO poisoning from a vehicle running in the garage is common, disproportionately affects the elderly, has a high mortality rate, and should be preventable with a residential CO alarm.
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