Safety
In both clinical and emergency-care situations, oxygen concentrators have the advantage of not being as dangerous as oxygen cylinders, which can, if ruptured or leaking, greatly increase the combustion rate of a fire. As such, oxygen concentrators are particularly advantageous in military or disaster situations, where oxygen tanks may be dangerous or infeasible.
Oxygen concentrators are considered sufficiently foolproof to be leased to individual patients as a prescription item for use in their homes. Typically they are used as an adjunct to CPAP treatment of severe sleep apnea. There also are other medical uses for oxygen concentrators, including emphysema and other respiratory diseases.
Used and refurbished units should be purchased through a reputable dealer. Temperamental units are worthless to the medical community since an individual's health frequently relies on the constant extended operation of the unit. However, such units are valuable to metal and glasswork hobbyists. Because oxygen is a "permanent gas" (cannot be liquefied at any pressure at room temperature), it is expensive to obtain in bottled form. Medical oxygen concentrators or specialized industrial oxygen concentrators can be made to operate small oxyacetylene cutting and welding torches.
Read more about this topic: Oxygen Concentrator
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“Firm, united, let us be,
Rallying round our Liberty;
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.”
—Joseph Hopkinson (1770–1842)
“The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“[As teenager], the trauma of near-misses and almost- consequences usually brings us to our senses. We finally come down someplace between our parents’ safety advice, which underestimates our ability, and our own unreasonable disregard for safety, which is our childlike wish for invulnerability. Our definition of acceptable risk becomes a product of our own experience.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)