Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"T.Alan Kraus" wrote:

Oxygen surely helps some, but Carbon monoxyde binds with red blood cells
with much, much more affinity then oxygen, and it is quite difficult to
replace. The best cure for CO emergency situations is hyperbaric O2. The
victim is placed in a pressure chamber with O2.

I recall reading somewhere that CO2 (carbon dioxide) would displace CO
(carbon monoxide) in the red blood cells, so the standard treatment was
a mixture of pure oxygen and carbon dioxide, hyperbaric chambers being
rare.

Does anybody know for sure?

Joe Gwinn


Also, some CO2 is required to trigger the breathing response.
I'd imagine the CO causes the blood to not transport CO2 out of the
body well, and so some CO2 might be required to keep lung action going
as a reflex.

Dave