5-day-old baby treated for CO poisoning in Provo
Feb 15, 2018, 7:09 AM | Updated: 7:11 am
KSL TV
Doctors at Utah Valley Hospital say they believe they have treated the youngest patient in the state in a hyperbaric chamber, after carbon monoxide poisoning.
Last month Jane Taylor was only five days old, and she and her parents were not feeling well.
“I couldn’t believe this was happening to my brand new little baby,” said Bethany Taylor. They googled their symptoms, realized it must be carbon monoxide poisoning in their apartment, and they went to the ER at Utah Valley Hospital.
Dr James Stewart treated them. He says carbon monoxide poisons you on two levels: the cellular level, and the central nervous system.
“It’s particularly worrisome in a newborn, because you have this rapidly developing nervous system, and carbon monoxide poisoning could be devastating,” said Dr Stewart.
He called his colleagues and looked at any literature he could find on babies that young, before they modified some of the standard treatment protocols and had Jane’s mother hold her in the chamber.
“She has a great outcome,” said Dr Stewart, adding that he will be sharing the case in medical literature so other doctors can learn from it.
“We’re lucky that things turned out the way they did,” said Taylor.
