On the afternoon of May 12, Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital informed that the unit had received and promptly saved the lives of two children in a state of drowsiness, difficulty breathing, and vomiting due to suffocation in a closed room when the family used a generator to run the air conditioner while the power was out.
According to the hospital, the two pediatric patients are D (8 years old) and M (6 years old), both in Cai Rang district, Can Tho city.
The hospital added that, through exploiting the history from the narrative of the family, due to the hot weather and the power outage of the same day, the family used a generator to put indoors to operate the air conditioner. During sleep, the mother woke up because she smelled a strong smell of gasoline and felt short of breath. When trying to call the two children, they discovered that both of them were drowsy, called without awakening, breathing tired and vomiting, and immediately took them to emergency.
At the hospital, doctors promptly gave the two children high oxygen levels, closely monitored their respiratory index, blood pressure and perception, and then transferred them to the National intensification unit (NICU) for further treatment. After about 2 hours of intensive treatment, the health of the two children improved significantly: they were more alert, able to eat and drink, and had stable respiratory index.
At the same time, the children's mother also began to show symptoms of headaches and vomiting, and was given emergency care and monitored at the hospital. After 5 days of treatment, both mother and child recovered and were discharged from the hospital.
Dr. CKI. Quach Thi Kim Phuc - Department of Pediatrics, Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital said that the use of generators and fuel combustion equipment in the home is not uncommon, especially in cases of power outages.
However, if ventilation is not guaranteed, CO (carbon monoxide) - an emission generated from a power station can accumulate and cause serious consequences, especially for children and the elderly because CO gas reduces oxygen levels in the blood, leading to oxygen deficiency for other organs in the body.
