Lung function decline is a defining characteristic of COPD, and it gets worse as the disease progresses. Because of this, most COPD patients eventually have to begin using supplemental oxygen to help their lungs once they become too weak to absorb enough oxygen on their own.
The purpose of supplemental oxygen is to deliver extremely oxygen-rich air to your lungs, usually using a pressurized oxygen tank or an oxygen concentrator. This air, generally about 85-95 percent pure oxygen, allows your lungs absorb more oxygen with every breath.
Supplemental oxygen is a very important part of COPD treatment because it helps your lungs take in enough oxygen to supply your organs and tissues with the oxygen they need. Without it, your blood oxygen saturation can fall to unhealthy levels—a condition called hypoxemia—which can lead to serious, life-threatening complications over time.
Supplemental oxygen is also important for treating acute COPD symptoms, and can help you when you feel breathless from exercising or when your symptoms flare up. Many patients also use supplemental oxygen when they sleep to treat low blood oxygen levels during the night.
Despite how often supplemental oxygen is used and prescribed, it can be dangerous if you don't understand the risks. Oxygen is highly flammable, and you have to take special precautions when you use it to reduce the risk of a fire.
Even though they are rare, oxygen leaks and major fires can happen if you don't practice proper oxygen safety. High oxygen levels can make objects that wouldn't usually be a risk highly flammable, such as grease and oily creams. It also causes fires to burn hotter and spread faster than they normally would.
Even small sparks or flames can can cause combustion when there's excess oxygen in the air, which is why it's so important to understand how to use your oxygen safely and minimize the risks.
In this article we're going to show you how to practice proper oxygen safety so you can avoid accidents, injuries, or fires from using supplemental oxygen. We'll explain the benefits and risks of oxygen therapy, how to minimize fire hazards, and tell you how to follow proper safety protocols when using, storing, and transporting your oxygen.
If you or a loved one uses oxygen therapy to treat COPD or another respiratory condition, then it's important for you to know how to use supplemental oxygen as safely as possible. This guide will teach you the basics and provide you with a variety of valuable tips you can use in your everyday life if you are prescribed supplemental oxygen.
Before we discuss how to use oxygen safely, it's important to understand the potential risks. If you know what to look out for, you're less likely to make a dangerous mistake.
The main immediate danger that supplemental oxygen poses is its flammability. When oxygen leaks out into the air from your tank, nasal cannula, or mask, it can raise oxygen levels in the room or in your immediate area, which significantly increases the flammability of everything nearby.
A certain amount of leakage from your nose and nasal cannula is inevitable, meaning there is a constant flammability risk when you use your supplemental oxygen. That's why you have to take a variety of fire-safe precautions any time oxygen is in use, even if your oxygen tank isn't nearby.
It is also important to make sure that all the oxygen from the tank goes straight into your lungs through your mask or nasal cannula instead of leaking into the air. Leaky tanks, faulty valves, and carelessness when opening and closing the valve can make the surrounding air extremely flammable, putting you, your belongings, and others nearby at risk.
Standard oxygen tanks, the most common type of equipment used to provide supplemental oxygen, pose hazards of their own, as well. The oxygen must be highly pressurized when it's stored in the tank, which means oxygen tanks can explode violently or “take off like a rocket” if the container is somehow damaged and ruptured.
You can avoid this danger by using an oxygen concentrator machine, but they tend to be pricier and harder to come by. Many patients don't have access to anything other than pressurized or liquid oxygen tanks because their budget, insurance, or medicare provider won't cover it.
Despite the risks, supplemental oxygen is generally very safe to use as long as you use it carefully and as directed. It's also a very important part of treatment for people with COPD and other respiratory conditions who can't get enough oxygen to stay healthy on their own.
By raising your blood oxygen levels and taking some of the strain off your lungs, supplemental oxygen therapy can significantly improve COPD symptoms like breathlessness, coughing, wheezing, and fatigue. It can also help you be more active and participate in more of life's activities by making it easier to walk, exercise, and keep your symptoms under control.
Here are some more of the benefits you can gain from supplemental oxygen therapy:
It's hard to overstate the importance of supplemental oxygen for COPD. If you doctor prescribes oxygen to you, it's vital that you use it exactly as directed according to your treatment plan.
Many patients don't follow their supplemental oxygen treatment regimen well enough because of inconvenience, aesthetics, or discomfort, but not using your oxygen as directed can worsen your COPD and lead to life-threatening complications, including heart failure. Talk to your doctor if you are having trouble using your oxygen or sticking to your treatment plan.
Now that you better understand the benefits and potential risks of oxygen therapy, we're going to show you how to practice proper oxygen safety. There are many important precautions that everyone who uses supplemental oxygen must take in order to reduce the likelihood of fires and burns.
In the next sections, we'll give you a variety of tips for preventing oxygen leaks and minimizing fire hazards in your home. We'll explain all the different flammable substances and spark risks that you should look out for and how to safely cook while using oxygen at home.
We'll also give you advice on how to store and transport your oxygen tanks so they won't leak or get damaged. To learn all of this and more, continue reading to learn all about how to practice proper oxygen safety in and outside of your home.
One of the most important parts of supplemental oxygen safety is to prevent oxygen from leaking out of your tank or mask. If too much oxygen escapes into the air, it poses a serious fire hazard.
Even a small spark or heat from a stove burner can cause oxygen in the air to ignite and set fire to you or objects nearby. That's why it's important to know how to handle your equipment safely when you use supplemental oxygen.
Here are some tips for preventing oxygen leaks:
No matter how careful you are to prevent leaks from your tank and tubing, a small amount of oxygen will inevitably leak out near your nose and mouth while you use supplemental oxygen.
That's why it's so important to stay away from heat, sparks, and anything else that could cause the oxygen to combust. We'll go into this in more detail in the following sections.
If you remember nothing else about oxygen safety, you should make sure you remember this: never, ever use your oxygen around an open flame. Doing so could quickly and easily cause a fire, which is why it's so important to keep your oxygen away from flames at all costs.
Open flames aren't the only hazard, however; even everyday heat sources like stoves and space heaters can also be dangerous. Anything with a heating element can pose a fire risk when you are using supplemental oxygen.
Here are some tips for avoiding heat and flame hazards when you use oxygen:
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While they don't pose as much of a risk as heated appliances and open flames, faulty electronic devices can also pose a fire hazard when you use supplemental oxygen. Some electronics and mechanical toys can also create tiny sparks that can cause fires in the presences of excess oxygen, which is why you shouldn't use them at the same time as you're using supplemental oxygen.
Another risk is static electricity build-up, the kind that happens when you drag your socks across the carpet or rub a balloon on your clothes. The "shock," or spark, that results when the static electricity dissipates can pose a fire risk when you are using supplemental oxygen. While it's impossible to avoid static electricity altogether, especially during the dry, winter months, you can reduce the risk of static sparks by avoiding certain types of clothing and fabrics.
Here are some tips for reducing the risk of fire from electronics and static electricity:
Even if you don't want to switch out your wardrobe for cotton-based clothes, consider at least switching to cotton bed sheets and blankets, especially if you use nighttime oxygen.
Static electricity from other types of fabric poses a much greater risk while you are asleep; this is partially because you are more likely to build up a static charge while shifting under your sheets, and partially because you might not be able to respond as quickly if a fire starts while you are asleep.
Using oxygen in a well-ventilated space is another important precaution that you can take to reduce your flammability risk and avoid fires. That means using your oxygen in an area with plenty of airflow and open space whenever possible.
Proper ventilation ensures that any extra oxygen in the air can quickly dissipate and leave the room before it builds up to the point of posing a significant fire risk. Beware of small, enclosed spaces; you should always try go outside or seek a more open area before beginning supplemental oxygen treatment.
Here are some tips for making sure you use your oxygen in well-ventilated places:
Even if you are very careful when using your supplemental oxygen, accidents can still happen. That's why, if you use oxygen in your home, you should be extra prepared in case a fire starts.
Here are some tips for home fire preparedness and precautions you should take if you or someone in your home uses supplemental oxygen:
Now that you understand how dangerous supplemental oxygen can be if not properly handled, it should be clear why you should keep children away from your oxygen equipment. Many children are not old enough to understand the dangers of oxygen or to be trusted to treat the equipment gently.
If you have children in your home, you should keep your oxygen equipment secured and out of reach whenever possible. Large oxygen tanks can be particularly tempting for little children to play with and climb on, so it's important to instruct kids that they are off limits and keep a close watch to ensure that they stay away.
Large, heavy oxygen tanks can also be very dangerous to children and cause injuries if they fall. This is yet another reason to store your tanks properly and securely so they can't be tipped or knocked over.
It's very important to make sure that you keep your oxygen tanks stored safely in a place where they won't be bumped or disturbed. You should keep any extra tanks in a stand or cart to ensure that they do not fall or get knocked over.
This is especially important when you are traveling with oxygen tanks, as there is a higher risk of the tanks getting jostled and tipped. Always keep your equipment carefully secured and protected any time you transport them from place to place.
Here are some tips for storing and transporting your oxygen:
Overall, it's important to always handle your equipment gently and with care. It's important to protect your tanks from damage to prevent leaks and dangerous explosions.
Here are some tips for handling and using your oxygen equipment with care:
Knowing how to use oxygen safely is extremely important for anyone with COPD. Most patients end up using supplemental oxygen at some point over the course of their life, and knowing what precautions to take can prevent devastating fires and injuries.
Even though most people who use supplemental oxygen don't have any problems, all it takes is one poorly-timed mistake or a stroke of bad luck to cause a fire or a burn. The consequences when something does go wrong can be devastating, which is why being lazy or careless is simply never worth the risk.
It might be inconvenient or take extra effort, but properly using, handling, and storing your oxygen is worth the extra time and effort it takes. It's not worth cutting corners when a simple mistake could cause serious burns or start a dangerous fire.
But even though using supplemental oxygen does carry some serious risks, you can minimize them significantly by practicing proper oxygen safety and keeping your equipment clean and maintained. If you or someone you love uses supplemental oxygen, these oxygen safety tips can help you make the treatment as safe and risk-free as possible.