Man thought he was just unwell—ER doctor's gut feeling uncovered a hidden threat to him and 29 others

A little attention to detail and care can be life-saving in many cases. A patient who was feeling unwell visited a doctor to get himself checked. But the Saskatoon doctor from Royal University Hospital, Dr. Mark Wahba, had an intuition that the patient was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. He immediately called the fire department to check if his hunch was correct and if all the other residents of the building were safe or not. The doctor ended up saving 29 other people, along with his patient, per CBC News.

The person went to the emergency room after feeling unwell for some time. He was feeling under the weather because of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an undetected leak in his building's boiler room. Dr. Wahba immediately sensed it and called the fire department to report the case. "It was a very close call. We're very thankful for the doctor at RUH who made that extra effort to just follow through in the situation," Matthew Murray, acting battalion chief, pointed out. After the doctor's call, the fire department sent a crew to the apartment complex at 12 Bateman Cres, per the outlet. "When the captain and crew went inside with detectors, the field levels went up to 300 parts per million," Murray added.

The highest levels of carbon monoxide were present around the building's boiler room at 400 parts per million. Usually, the fire department would evacuate a building when the levels were at 50 parts per million. "At that point, they started shouting for people to evacuate while they backed out and put on their self-contained breathing apparatus," Murray went on. The residents of the building were taken to the City Hospital and the Royal University Hospital for assessment after the evacuation. There were no fatalities attached to the incident. The Fire Chief, Morgan Hackl, revealed that 50 people, including children, were evacuated from the building. The apartment complex didn't have a carbon monoxide detector, according to Hackl.

The fire chief also explained that such high levels of exposure can kill a person within two to three hours. Troy Davies with Medavie Health Service West recounted that paramedics were called to the location soon after. They used special transportation to take 25 people to City Hospital and four people to the Royal University Hospital. Due to the large number of people, the Saskatoon Fire Department also helped transport them. "Paramedics would like to personally thank Dr. Wahba for his quick response that could have turned out much worse," Davies expressed.

The fire department continued its inspection and also evacuated a second building in the apartment complex the next day. That building didn't have a carbon monoxide detector either. The exact time when the residents could go back to their homes was not revealed, but the residents at least had to leave the building empty for the next couple of days. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause severe tissue damage and even death, per Mayo Clinic. The gas has no odor, taste, or color. Headache, weakness, dizziness and nausea are common symptoms experienced due to carbon monoxide exposure. People who feel they have been exposed to the gas might need to get out in fresh air and seek medical attention right away.