First Rule For Oxygen Safety
Posted by admin - 22/12/08 at 12:12 pmPatients requiring an external oxygen supply must take some basic safety precautions.
And the first safety rule for oxygen users, is very simple, quite obvious and simple to apply.
- No flames nearby.
Oxygen in itself is not flammable, but it does feed fire. The air around us contains 21% oxygen, and it is this oxygen that feeds the fire (in fact oxygen is an accelerator).
If you extract the oxygen from the air, you can’t light a match. Now think what happens when a patient is receiving 95% oxygen. This concentration will mean that a nearby flame will be getting nearly four times the oxygen it would normally receive. And that is not a good idea.
And the first safety measure is to avoid any type of flame. Sometimes we are absent minded and take things for granted but their are a few simple things you can do.
- No smoking near you, preferably in the same room. From the smoke point of view taking extra oxygen and inhaling (passively or actively) won’t do you lungs any good, but the flame side of the equation is a definite no-no.
- Exposed flames, in the kitchen, heaters and so on.
Anyone receiving extra oxygen has a higher concentration of this gas around him, so be careful.
