Outdoor carbon monoxide poisoning attributed to tractor exhaust--Kentucky, 1997.

Carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication is a common cause of reported unintentional fatal poisonings in the United States. From 1979 through 1988, an average of 1140 deaths per year were attributed to unintentional CO poisoning. Most of these deaths resulted from exposures in enclosed spaces; CO poisoning associated with outdoor activities occurs rarely. This report describes the investigation of CO poisoning in a farmer in Kentucky resulting from exposure to exhaust from a tractor in an open field and provides recommendations for preventing similar exposures. In June 1997, a 37-year-old female farmer who had been working in a field for 5 hours was admitted to a Kentucky hospital emergency department (ED) because of CO inhalation, dehydration, and heat exhaustion. A nurse from the Community Partners for Healthy Farming (CPHF) Project was notified of the incident, and an investigation was conducted by the CPHF nurse, staff from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC), and CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).