EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Fire Stop Flowmeters

If patients are really so sad that they are likely to light up a cigarette whilst undergoing oxygen therapy, perhaps they need to be searched before entering the hospital!

How about doing a Risk Assessment on that, anybody?

Ben,
I do not think that people, myself included, have been negative because the product is a not a good idea. It is just that we are aware of NHS finances and think that the risk of an oxygen line catching fire is small, there are greater risks that the money could be spent preventing. That is why I said a risk-cost benefit analysis was required. May be the gut feeling is wrong.
It would be nice to have sufficient money to spend on every thing that might be required "just in case" but as can been seen in other posts just getting the basics right is hard enough before we look at niceties.
Robert

We had a fire on a ward a couple of years ago. The heat softened the flowmeter tube, which then ruptured with the pipeline pressure. Fitting these to the flowmeter outlet would not have made any difference.

Perhaps you're not at liberty to tell us, Graham ... but do you know how the fire started? I'm sure we're all hoping that nobody was hurt, but was it put out quickly, and was there much damage? Can I assume that someone closed the valve at the ward's shut-off box?

Don't most fires start in store rooms or down in basement areas where somebody has gone for a crafty fag, not in a ward environment?

Judging by the zillions of fag butts I see lying around in such places, I would have to suggest that the answer is likely to be "yes"! What does your Fire Officer have to say about that, I wonder?

The details were published in the local press so I guess its not confidential. During the night a patient decided to create a bonfire in the corner of the ward using spare linen and a couple of newspapers. Nobody was injured, fire isolation and evacuation procedures worked well, but the ward was extensivly damaged. I saw the ward the following morning and the smoke damage had to be seen to be believed. If I recall correctly, the patient subsequently received a custodial sentence for arson.

Accepts it happens but seems more worried about possible litigation if by some very remote chance a patient was to be injured and these units were not in place. Like I said before I just don't get it, it just seems so unnecessary within a hospital. However I can see the benefit for a patient using Oxygen at home.... Oxygen, fires, cookers, smoking....

Hiya,

Our H&S have been asking about them and what I said was its an expensive way to stop oxygen escaping when a fires already took hold. An inline firestops not going to stop a patient getting burned and the fires got to be bad if the flowmeters melting. First thing is they should be doing when theres a fire is getting the patients out and switching the gas ZSUs off to stop it spreading with the help of the piped oxygen.

Doesnt make sense to replace all our flowmeters with new ones thatre probably going to need more checking and servicing when we've got maintenance free ones that could have firestop nozzles fitted for a fraction of the price. Sheme to throw good kit away.

When the bedding and everything else is full of oxygen froma mask then it's going to burn whether there's a firestop in the flowmeter or not. Looks to me like their more interested in ticking health and safety boxes.

Rob

Hi Guys,

If I can put my two pence worth in!

I don't know about you but here at the Countess of Chester the wards go through the gland nuts left right and centre. We are supplying them all the time to wards. They get snapped/damaged and thrown away.

We are talking approx. 1200 gland nuts here alone to replace and approx 60 a month for maintenance. So its not just an intial cost but running costs aswell these fire safe gland nuts are roughly twice the price of the gland nuts we currently purchase.
I think if the idea is going to take off they need to drop their prices!!
Stuart