By The Canadian Press
EDMONTON, Canada — Two of the eight people rushed to Edmonton for emergency treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning will remain in hospital for a second night, says a health region spokeswoman.
After continuing with specialized hyperbaric oxygen therapy, six of the stricken seniors were expected to be released by the end of Tuesday, said Tadra Boulton.
"We expect one critical and one stable patient to stay the night and the remaining patients will be discharged this afternoon and into this evening," she said.
Carbon monoxide attaches itself to hemoglobin and interferes with the body's ability to transport oxygen through the blood to cells. Hyperbaric chambers counter that effect by offering an oxygen-rich environment.
Six women and two men between the ages of 55 and 85 were pulled from their condominiums in the central Alberta village of Linden, about 100 kilometres northeast of Calgary, on Monday.
A spate of serious and fatal carbon monoxide poisonings in southern Alberta has prompted calls by some politicians and rescue officials for detectors to be made mandatory in residences as are smoke detectors.
Earlier this month, a 61-year-old owner of a Calgary paint shop was found unconscious in the back of his shop and later died. In December, two seniors died after a car was left running in their attached garage.
Christina Bruce, spokeswoman for Alberta Municipal Affairs and Housing, said it has actually been mandatory since September for most new homes built in the province to have carbon monoxide detectors.
The rules apply to single-family homes with a furnace or a hot-water heater. Similar rules apply to apartments and condos. Police and firefighters said in the Linden case, they suspect fumes from a car that had been left running overnight in the building's garage permeated the complex with the potentially deadly gas.
Bruce said it has been mandatory since the 1970s for garages with more than five cars to be equipped with detectors.
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