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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Re: Oxygen Safety http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1282610827 Message started by Bob P on Aug 24th, 2010 at 8:09am |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Bob P on Aug 24th, 2010 at 8:09am
When I would take my SCUBA tanks in for refil, they would always place the tank in a tub of cool water while they were filling it to keep the heat of compression down. Wouldn't hurt for home fillers to do the same.
BTW - I would always walk to the other end of the shop while they were filling my tank, just in case it blew! |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Lettucehead on Aug 24th, 2010 at 2:17pm
Would you believe I know multiple people who are on chronic oxygen with a nasal cannula who still smoke cigarettes when using their O2?
Yell, scold, warn, beg - doesn't matter, they still do it. Now I use the example of a lady I know who was on chronic O2 and was smoking - O2 caught on fire and burned her airways. Her external skin was untouched but her trachea was scorched to the point that she died. Still, believe it or not, they CONTINUE to smoke when using O2... >:( |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by vietvet2tours on Aug 24th, 2010 at 4:13pm Lettucehead wrote on Aug 24th, 2010 at 2:17pm:
Oxygen doesn't burn so your story doesn't ring quite true. Potter |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Brew on Aug 24th, 2010 at 4:29pm Lettucehead wrote on Aug 24th, 2010 at 2:17pm:
There had to be more to it - Potter's exactly right, oxygen is not a fuel. It's more like a catalyst. When introduced to combustion, it will speed the reaction, but it doesn't burn in the absence of fuel. |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Guiseppi on Aug 24th, 2010 at 4:50pm
Having responded to a number of house fires, both fatal and otherwise, my guess is she fell asleep smoking, while on 02. So instead of the usual slow burn smolder, death by smoke inhalation, everything else burns in the resulting fire fires, which claim many elderly smokers.......she had the roman candle, oxygen fed, smoke in bed fire!!!!
Just an educated guess....which makes it ring true to me. Joe |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Jimi on Aug 24th, 2010 at 4:52pm
I worked 3 fatalities where people were sitting on their couch/chair smoking and using 02. All 3 were burned beyond recognition.
I am sure their clothes were saturated with the 02 and when the flame or dropped cigarette hit the 02 they were instantly on fire. So smoking while puffing 02 is still dangerous. |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Brew on Aug 24th, 2010 at 5:25pm
No doubt it's a really stupid thing to do. Clothing, skin, hair, upholstery, carpet, wood structure - it's all fuel. And when you introduce pure O2 into the equation, it's a recipe for disaster.
Just ask Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee (oh, wait. you can't). It was the disaster on the launch pad of Apollo I that NASA learned what a bad idea it is to pressurize a space capsule with pure O2. |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Guiseppi on Aug 24th, 2010 at 5:48pm
The opening scene from Apollo 13...... :'(
|
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Brew on Aug 24th, 2010 at 7:11pm Guiseppi wrote on Aug 24th, 2010 at 5:48pm:
Even worse, I'm sure, in real life. |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Lettucehead on Aug 24th, 2010 at 9:48pm
How about this -
We found her on the floor next to her chair which had some scorch marks on it. Her collar was scorched. Looking back, I think her eyebrows and eyelashes were also scortched, but her skin was not burned on her face. She had the butt of a cigarette near her body. She was conscious but not coherent. The nasal cannula had been knocked out of her nose and her O2 tank had run out. Her blood o2 saturation was in the high 60s to low 70s. She was laboring to breathe. At the hospital, she died within hours. Her hospitalists felt that she died of hypoxia exacerbated by tracheal and lung edema consistent with burns. As for what exactly happened, we may never know as there were no witnesses... Ahem, but the point remains - it is NOT a good idea to smoke with O2. (Which I'm quite sure is what Potter was trying to get at...) |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Jimi on Aug 25th, 2010 at 8:07pm
Jim is right.
Signed, Jim |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Brew on Aug 25th, 2010 at 8:33pm Kilowatt3 wrote on Aug 25th, 2010 at 7:57pm:
I'm having trouble finding where anyone downplayed the danger of unsafe use of O2 in this thread. |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Guiseppi on Aug 25th, 2010 at 10:12pm Jimi wrote on Aug 25th, 2010 at 8:07pm:
And my man Jimi would know! ;) Joe |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Kilowatt3 on Aug 28th, 2010 at 2:57pm Brew wrote on Aug 25th, 2010 at 8:33pm:
Whether it's intentional or not, comments like "Oxygen doesn't burn so your story doesn't ring quite true" and "There had to be more to it - ...oxygen is not a fuel" DO downplay the dangers. A lot of people will read these statements and, due to a poor understanding of the chemistry involved, will conclude that since oxygen "doesn't burn", it's not dangerous. They will use this to rationalize smoking while on O2, and some, sooner or later, will be horribly burned or killed as a result. The comment, "...oxygen is not a fuel. It's more like a catalyst. When introduced to combustion, it will speed the reaction, but it doesn't burn in the absence of fuel" is meaningless, since no one has EVER used medical oxygen "in the absence of fuel". As I said before, bedding, plastic tubing & masks, and the tissue in your trachea and lungs ARE fuel, and in a pure O2 atmosphere, will burn violently. I failed to mention your hair and skin, whatever reading materials you might have in the bed, and the paint on the walls. BTW - Oxygen is an oxidizer. It is not even remotely "like a catalyst" in a fire. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use O2 to abort a CH, or for any other legitimate medical use, but disregarding the risks, using it carelessly, and particularly, smoking while using it is downright suicidal. You shouldn't even smoke in the same house where O2 is in use, ever. You don't have to take my word for it - just go down to your local burn ward, plastic surgeon, or coroner's office and ask around. Regards, Jim |
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Brew on Aug 28th, 2010 at 2:59pm
Thanks for the clarification.
|
Title: Re: Oxygen Safety Post by Mike NZ on Aug 29th, 2010 at 12:40am
Many years ago at university I saw a demonstration done where a slice of bread was dipped into liquid oxygen and then ignited. It burned incredibly well, so much so that you got nothing left.
The lecturer then took another slice, soaked it in liquid oxygen and put it into a toaster which was then turned on. The result was a partially molten toaster. The lecturer did a few other things to really show you how potentially safe looking things could turn rather nasty if you weren't careful. As you can imagine, people were rather careful in the labs after seeing this live demonstration. |
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