Portable Oxygen Concentrators - A Simple Guide
Portable oxygen machines and specially portable oxygen concentrators have changed just how many people, who must have continuous or semi continuous oxygen therapy, are actually living.
It was previously that mobility for COPD patients was severely restricted. This meant being house bound or overly influenced by a hospital or clinic.
With the advent of a lot more practical and better quality portable machines, patients mobility has increased dramatically and you may now find people on supplemental oxygen doing a lot of things they wouldn't have imagined a few years ago.
This has happened due to the new portable tanks, due to more advanced conserving devices (that regulate the delivery rates) and, perhaps the most important reason of most - the introduction of portable oxygen concentrators.
Click for more is really a machine that extracts oxygen from the surrounding air, it concentrates it and then delivers it - right to the patient (in a house concentrator machine it is also used to refill an oxygen cylinder). At sea level and if air pollution is not a concern, ambient air is composed of approximately 21% oxygen, 88% nitrogen and a reduced amount of various gases. The oxygen concentrator extracts oxygen, concentrates it and delivers it to the patient.
Things You HAVE TO KNOW:
You need a power source to use, which is often both with rechargeable batteries and a plug in option (including for vehicle).
You will find a continuous rumble from the concentrators motor.
You can adjust the flow level according to your prescription.
There are different models with differing weights the give enable your mobility.
Check your battery durability so when a safety precaution you should have a spare and charged battery.
Portable oxygen concentrators arrived on the scene 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 is not a storage device but a supplier of oxygen. Which means that so long as the power source is uninterrupted, oxygen will continue to be delivered so long as needed. In a tank there will always 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 (so you can plug them in cars, for example) as well as being battery operated. They are smaller, lighter and for that reason easier to carry and also have a direct and positive effect on peoples mobility.
It seems as though each new model is smaller and has more durable rechargeable batteries.
An important benefit is they have increased the chance of travel for patients on extra oxygen, and in fact one of the more important aspects of that is that as of May, 2009, the FAA authorized the utilization of some portable oxygen concentrators on board airlines that cross US airspace (this means all arriving and departing flights). This change is of great consequence as air travel was a major problem. It is still, however, smart to consult with your airline before a flight.
Although living and needing to be determined by supplemental oxygen is not something anyone would willingly elect to do, POC's (portable oxygen concentrators) have really changed people's lives. The much greater range of activities that can now be practiced, as well as increased mobility generally, have had a very positive impact on long term oxygen therapy patients.