Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: Everything you never wanted to know about Cyanide.

Description: With the ever-increasing use of petroleum-based materials in manufacturing, structure fires burn hotter and faster than ever before. But that is not the only thing that makes them more dangerous than they used to be. Cyanide poisoning is a leading killer of victims at the scenes of fires all over the world because of the prevalence of petroleum-based products. Yet in school, paramedics are usually only taught about carbon monoxide and its dangers in structure fires – hydrogen cyanide is often completely left out of the conversation. In this presentation, we will discuss how cyanide forms in fires, the prevalence of hydrogen cyanide toxicity, its mechanism, and its treatment, using real-world examples and data.