Are oxygen concentrators useful in hospital scenarios?

[simon43]

I'm asking this question because I'm a scientist, (and therefore have some understanding of the subject).  But I'm not a doctor or medical expert, so I don't have enough knowledge to know the answer.

 

I read that an elderly Burmese woman died on the Thai-Burmese border because the refugee hospital where she was a patient had no more oxygen for her serious lung illness, and this was due to USAid cuts, (that last point is debatable...)

 

I know that oxygen for hospitals is typically supplied in tanks from oxygen factories.  I want to understand if Oxygen Concentrators, - the type that can be bought on Lazada for 4,000 baht, would be of any help for hospital patients with lung conditions which require additional oxygen.

 

Can anyone comment from a medical viewpoint?  Sheryl?

 

My contacts in Burma tell me that the government hospitals usually are extremely short of equipment anyway, as one can expect from the very difficult situation in the country. But now the oxygen factories can no longer deliver oxygen tanks to these hospitals, and that because of the lack of electricity, they can't even make the oxygen at their factories.  So it's a very bad situation.

 

I suspect that an O.C. would not be able to replace oxygen tanks, but I'd like a medical opinion, because it would be easy for me to bring O.Cs into the country during my regular trips there (I can always claim at customs that the unit is for my personal use - I have a lung condition!).

 

Thanks for any information about this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

Oxygen concentrators can be used in hospitals and sometimes are. The piped in oxygen found in large hospitals sometimes  comes from large oxygen concentrators, other times ftom liquid oxygen storage tanks or high pressure oxygen cylinders. The kind of tanks  needing regular refill, that  you are thinking of are used only in much smaller hospitals.

 

Oxygen concentrators need a regular supply of  electricity which is likely lacking in a field hospital of this type.

 

Sudden overnight cessation of US humanitarian  foreign aid, with no prior notice ,   is both unprecedented and sure to cause deaths.  Probably not a USAID issue in this instance as refugee aid usually comes through a special State Dept offiice  but this too was abruptly cut off with no time to seek alernative financing. 

 

[simon43]

Thanks Sheryl.  My contacts in Burma tell me that oxygen concentrators would be extremely welcome in the small, rural hospitals, but obviously they also need a reliable electricity supply.  However, the latter can be provided through a combination of solar panels>solar controller>car/truck battery>12/220v inverter, with a car battery charger also being used to recharge the battery when there is mains electricity.  I'm onto this with a design of a cheap and mobile power unit. 

 

I'll post in the Myanmar forum if I pursue this idea 🙂