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"One winter night several years ago, I was awakened at 3 a.m. by a call from the emergency room about two patients, a middle-aged dentist and his wife. They had eaten dinner that night at a local restaurant, returned to their apartment at about 11 p.m., fed the cat, and went to bed. An hour or so later, they both awoke with nausea and headache severe enough to prompt the ER visit. Since they had eaten identical meals, the ER physician suspected a food-borne infection. After treatment with antinausea medication and intravenous fluids, the couple felt better and were sent home. I complimented the ER doctor on a job well done and hung up, thankful there was no need for me to venture forth into the cold.Firefighters found increased levels of carbon monoxide in the apartment, but no apparent source. Upon inspection, they found the kitchen stove on in an adjacent apartment, which shared a vent. Sadly, the elderly woman who occupied that apartment was dead.
Shortly after drifting back to sleep, I was again jolted awake by a ringing phone. This time it was the dentist himself. He and his wife were again feeling ill. Indeed, the wife was not only headachy and nauseated but was crying hysterically because, on their arrival home from the ER, they had found their cat dead. A light clicked on in my brain. I told them to open all the windows and phone 911 immediately. By the time I met them at the ER, it was clear my suspicion of carbon monoxide poisoning was correct. Had they remained at home, they would have died."
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