In ‘mud-bogging,’ experts recommend getting out of stuck vehicles, and having portable CO detectors
FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The off-road motor sport known as mud bogging can put drivers and passengers at risk of potentially lethal carbon monoxide poisoning, a group of doctors report. Their findings were published in the Sept. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Like its name implies, mud bogging involves navigating a vehicle through muddy pits or tracks. The problem is, mud can clog exhaust pipes, sending carbon monoxide into the cabin of the vehicle. Andrew M. King, M.D., of the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh report on two incidents.
In one, an 18-year-old driver and a 16-year-old passenger lost consciousness after being overcome by carbon monoxide while mud bogging. In the other incident, two backseat passengers — ages 16 and 19 — were affected. They were treated with hyperbaric oxygen, and all survived.
“We’re reporting this because we want the public to be aware of the risk,” report coauthor Michael Lynch, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told HealthDay.
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