I’m going to tag this as a little tutorial for @MichaelYeadon3 who keeps saying that there’s no problem from the suppliers of medical ‘gasses’
Most hospitals in the U.K. run their O2 supply from a Vacuum Insulated Evaporator (VIE)
https://t.co/Lu9ktGFSSm
1/n
This VIE is essentially a large thermos flask/ vacuum insulated cylinder at -180C
O2 is supplied from (typically) BOC in liquid form; when required, allowed to evaporate into gas, & supplied to hospital outlets.
Most hospitals have a VIE big enough to meet their needs
2/n
The problem is the pipes
Most ~12 bed ICUs have pipes that allow ~400L/min flow
This is Ok because most ventilators don’t use >20l/min; giving useful buffer capacity
Modern non invasive ventilation systems- CPAP, NIV, and High flow nasal Oxygen (HFNO), however, need more
3/n
A typical patient on HFNO will have 60-80Lmin flow. If they’re on 90% O2, that’s 60L O2 for 1 patient
6 of these patients will come very close to triggering the O2 flow alarm for this 12 bed unit.
4/n
Aside from breaking walls and re engineering the O2 supply for the whole hospital there’s no easy way of solving this problem
5/n