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
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
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
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
6 of these patients will come very close to triggering the O2 flow alarm for this 12 bed unit.
4/n
5/n
A typical F cylinder has 1360 litres Oxygen. And weighs 18KG.
That will last ~22 minutes for a patient on HFNO
That’s 72 cylinders per patient per day.
That’s not how you can run a service.
6/n
These 72 cylinders cost approx £2000. That’s ~20x more than liquid O2 in a VIE.
Typical ICU tariff for a L2 patient is <£1500!
7/n
Leads to problems with staffing and cover for safety
8/n
The problem is infrastructure and old estate.
Please stop this misinformation.
9/n
