Medical Oxygen Safety Tips For New Users
If you've just started using medical oxygen or have a relative who is now using it, you've undoubtedly received basic safety instructions such as staying away from flames and not letting anyone smoke in the same room as where the oxygen is being used. These are obviously important, but you can make the use of medical oxygen a little safer if you keep a few extra tips in mind.
Use Sealing Washers on the Regulator Seal
The Food and Drug Administration notes that a big issue regarding oxygen and fires involves leaks from around the regulator seal. The agency notes that one type of regulator seal uses washers that can be harder to close securely as time goes on. Some canisters use crush gaskets, and you have to apply increasingly more force to close the cylinder valve as you use it more and more. This can increase the potential for an oxygen leak. The other type of washer is an elastomeric sealing washer that does not require more and more force to close.
Keep Your Distance Just a Little More
MedlinePlus, from the National Institutes of Health, advises keeping a distance of 6 feet away from sources of flame, and it advises that no smoking should be allowed in rooms where there's medical oxygen. However, the city of Medford, Oregon, suggests taking things a step further by keeping at least 10 feet away from all sources and not allowing smoking in the house or apartment at all. That eliminates the need to worry about which rooms currently hold oxygen canisters and which ones smokers are walking through -- there's no risk of someone forgetting to extinguish a cigarette if smoking isn't allowed in the home in the first place.
Motor Issues
Much of the safety advice around also focuses on open flames, but motors can be a problem as well. In the same article referenced previously, MedlinePlus advises that motors in children's toys, hairdryers, electric razors, and even electric toothbrushes (who would have thought toothbrushes were a risk?) are potential ignition sources. Motors can often spark, and while you might not notice these normally, you'd be taking a real risk if they sparked around a medical oxygen canister.
You may want to see if you can get a medical oxygen company representative, like Broward A&C Medical Supply Inc., or someone from your doctor's office, to help you locate risks in each room. If that's not possible, take pictures of what's in each room and bring them to your doctor to discuss potential hidden risks.
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