ნახშირბადის მონოქსიდის საფრთხის შესახებ ცნობიერება [FIRE-02]

ნახშირბადის მონოქსიდის საფრთხის შესახებ ცნობიერება [FIRE-02]

Carbon monoxide (CO) is responsible for more unintentional poisoning deaths globally than any other toxic agent, yet it remains invisible, odourless, and acutely underestimated in institutional settings. Healthcare facilities — with their complex ventilation systems, backup generators, boiler rooms, and high patient-to-staff ratios — carry a disproportionate burden of risk: a single undetected leak can incapacitate staff and patients simultaneously, eliminating the very personnel needed to execute an emergency response. In Georgia and across the South Caucasus, the rapid expansion of hospital infrastructure alongside older heating systems and variable building maintenance standards makes robust CO hazard management an immediate institutional priority, not a theoretical concern. Accreditation bodies including the Joint Commission International (JCI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 45001) explicitly require healthcare organisations to identify, assess, and control this risk as part of a compliant Environment of Care programme.

This course is grounded in WHO guidelines on indoor air quality and chemical hazards, JCI Environment of Care standards, and peer-reviewed evidence on CO toxicokinetics and clinical presentation. Instruction follows a competency-based methodology, progressing from mechanistic understanding through facility-level risk assessment to coordinated emergency response, ensuring that knowledge translates directly into protocol-ready action. Case studies drawn from real healthcare facility incidents — including scenarios relevant to the Caucasus regional context — anchor abstract principles in operational decision-making.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish the physiological mechanisms of carbon monoxide toxicity from other inhalation hazards, explaining why conventional clinical presentations are frequently missed or misdiagnosed in healthcare settings.
• Identify the primary and secondary CO sources specific to healthcare facility infrastructure — including generators, boiler systems, and attached car parks — and analyse the conditions that accelerate accumulation to dangerous concentrations.
• Evaluate the adequacy of an organisation’s existing CO detection and alarm system against JCI Environment of Care requirements and ISO 45001 workplace safety criteria.
• Implement a stepwise facility response protocol upon CO alarm activation, correctly sequencing evacuation, patient prioritisation, source isolation, and emergency services notification.
• Apply internationally endorsed triage principles to distinguish CO-exposed patients requiring immediate hyperbaric or high-flow oxygen therapy from those suitable for standard supportive management.
• Design a department-level CO prevention and preparedness checklist — covering detector placement, maintenance scheduling, staff drill cadence, and incident documentation — aligned with national and accreditation reporting obligations.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for a broad cross-section of healthcare professionals with direct or indirect responsibility for patient and staff safety, including nurses, physicians, paramedical staff, facility engineers, and hospital safety officers working in inpatient, emergency, perioperative, and long-term care settings. Quality improvement coordinators, accreditation leads, and infection-prevention and environmental-health officers will find the content directly applicable to gap analyses, risk registers, and JCI survey preparation. The course is equally suitable for early-career clinicians building foundational safety competencies and for experienced professionals seeking structured, evidence-based updating of their existing knowledge.

Course Structure

The course is delivered entirely online through the GMJ Academy learning platform, comprising four structured modules with an estimated study time of two to three hours; participants complete a scenario-based summative assessment requiring a passing score of 80% to receive their certificate of completion. Successful completion is eligible for Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit in accordance with the standards of the Georgian Medical Association.