Portable Oxygen Concentrators - A Simple Guide
Portable oxygen machines and specially portable oxygen concentrators have changed just how many people, who will need to have continuous or semi continuous oxygen therapy, are now living.
It used to be that mobility for COPD patients was severely restricted. This meant being house bound or overly dependent on a hospital or clinic.
With the advent of a lot more practical and better quality portable machines, patients mobility has increased dramatically and you will now find people on supplemental oxygen doing a lot of things they wouldn't have imagined just a few years ago.
This has happened as a result of new portable tanks, because of more advanced conserving devices (that regulate the delivery rates) and, possibly the most important reason of most - the introduction of portable oxygen concentrators.
An oxygen concentrator is really a machine that extracts oxygen from the surrounding air, it concentrates it and delivers it - right to the patient (in a home concentrator machine it is also used to refill an oxygen cylinder). At sea level and if air pollution isn't an issue, ambient air comprises approximately 21% oxygen, 88% nitrogen and a reduced amount of various gases. The oxygen concentrator extracts oxygen, concentrates it and delivers it to the individual.
Things You HAVE TO KNOW:
You will need a power source to use, and this can be both with rechargeable batteries and a plug in option (including for vehicle).
You will find a continuous rumble from the concentrators motor.
It is possible to adjust the flow level according to your prescription.
There are Visit this link of with differing weights the give allow for your mobility.
Always check your battery durability and as a safety precaution you ought to have an extra and charged battery.
Portable oxygen concentrators arrived around 2002 and since then have had an excellent impact in the portable oxygen delivery area.
The major difference between an oxygen concentrator and an oxygen cylinder or tank, is that the concentrator isn't a storage device but a supplier of oxygen. This means that so long as the power source is uninterrupted, oxygen will still be delivered for as long as needed. In a tank there will be the limitation based on the amount of oxygen that's stored, whether liquid or gas.
The new designs have both a primary plug in option (in order to plug them in cars, for instance) as well as being battery operated. They're smaller, lighter and for that reason easier to carry and also have a primary and positive influence on peoples mobility.
It seems as though each new model is smaller and has more durable rechargeable batteries.
A significant benefit is that they have increased the chance of travel for patients on extra oxygen, and in fact one of the most important aspects of that is that by May, 2009, the FAA authorized the usage of some portable oxygen concentrators up to speed airlines that cross US airspace (this means all arriving and departing flights). This change is of great consequence as air travel was a problem. It is still, however, smart to consult with your airline before a flight.
Although living and needing to depend on https://www.pradaan.org/members/inogen111/activity/479480/ isn't something anyone would willingly choose to do, POC's (portable oxygen concentrators) have really changed people's lives. The much greater range of activities that can now be practiced, together with increased mobility in general, have had a very positive impact on long term oxygen therapy patients.