The Health Bureau (SSM) has been notified by the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre of a hydrogen-sulphide poisoning incident, the victim of which is a 24-year-old female resident living in Estrada Marginal do Hipódromo.
An SSM statement said yesterday that the victim was found unconscious on the floor at home by her family at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. The victim was then rushed to the public hospital, where she was diagnosed with gas poisoning.
The statement pointed out that firefighters rushed to the victim’s family flat where they detected hydrogen sulphide in the bathroom. There is no window in the bathroom.
According to the patient’s family, the windows and doors of the flat were closed during the incident and there was a foul odour in the flat, but no drainage work had been carried out there recently.
The other family members in the flat did not have any similar symptoms, the statement said.
Yesterday’s statement noted that the patient, who was in critical condition yesterday, had been put on a ventilator.
The statement underlined that more than 20 ppm of hydrogen sulphide irritate victims’ eyes and respiratory system, causing dizziness, headache and drowsiness, or even coma, respiratory arrest and death, within a short period of time, if hydrogen sulphide is at very high concentrations of above 530 ppm.
Hydrogen sulphide has a strong, pungent and characteristic “rotten egg” odour, but when the concentration exceeds 100 ppm, it may not be noticed due to anosmia, aka nose blindness, according to the statement.
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