| Mark Gritton stoked up the fireplace one more time before he and his wife, Lori, headed for bed.
Although it was cold and snowy outside, all seemed well for them and for Mark’s two step-children, Luis Dibben, 17; Amanda Dibben, 15; and his daughter Madison, 14.
By 5 a.m. the next day, however, Lori was awake with blurred vision, a racing heart, and a feeling of being cold even though she was drenched in sweat.
“I thought it was maybe a stroke,” she says.
Meanwhile, Mark noticed that Luis was bent over a clothes hamper making strange, unintelligible noises. “I couldn’t get him to wake up,” he says.
When Lori passed out, Mark—a former volunteer firefighter—suspected carbon monoxide poisoning from a problem in the fireplace and called 911. Emergency crews were on the scene within minutes, and the family was taken to DeWitt Community Hospital for initial evaluation.
Amanda was unconscious and experiencing seizures, making her by far the most seriously ill person in the family. She was quickly transported by AirCare helicopter for specialized care at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Luis arrived 14 minutes later on a separate flight.
Both children received treatment in the hospital’s hyperbaric chamber under the direction of anesthesiologist Merete Ibsen, MD. The chamber is a large, steel vessel that administers 100 percent oxygen in a high-pressure environment. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has long been recognized as vital in resolving critical medical conditions such as gas gangrene, carbon monoxide poisoning, and air embolism.
“The effect is similar to a deep sea dive,” Ibsen says.
Luis responded well and showed signs of a strong recovery. Amanda remained unresponsive and was receiving care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit when the other family members arrived. Their hyperbaric “dive” was almost completed when the session was stopped so the family could “be with Amanda.”
It signaled the worst possible news. PICU specialist Caroline George, MD, said Amanda was not responding well and that she might not survive. She encouraged the family to be at Amanda’s side, talk to her, and try to stimulate her recovery.
Prayers were said and Amanda’s feet and hands were rubbed.
The turning point came when Lori reminded Amanda that she was supposed to pick up her class ring in a couple of days. Remarkably, Amanda responded by moving her shoulder. It was the first sign that she was pulling out of her coma.
The family was ecstatic. Amanda progressively improved and she performed well on a standard post-therapy neuropsychological test. The test helps determine when a patient has received enough hyperbaric therapy.
“Carbon monoxide poisoning is especially dangerous because the effects are sometimes delayed,” says Shawn Simmons, MD, director of the Hyperbaric Medicine Service. “A patient can appear to be fine but later may demonstrate more severe symptoms. Not all patients react equally to the same exposure.”
In Amanda’s case, she spent eight days in the hospital before returning home, where she and the entire family have resumed their normal lives with no known complications from the December 2005 incident.
“Everybody was just wonderful,” Lori says. “The respiratory therapists and nurses were fantastic. We were all in the best possible hands.”
About the hospital’s hyperbaric chamber
- Can treat up to six patients at a time
- Only multi-patient chamber in Iowa
- One of the few such chambers in Midwest
- Staffed 24/7 by anesthesiologists trained in hyperbaric medicine and respiratory therapists certified in hyperbaric medicine
- Certified to treat 13 different diagnoses
- Most commonly used to promote wound healing
- Ongoing research studies in hyperbaric-related medical care
More information about the Hyperbaric Medicine Service
For consultation or referral, physicians should call UI Consult.
--Michael Sondergard | 
