Understanding Oxygen Systems

An overview of oxygen systems.

Transcript

Hi. I'm Heather. I'm a registered nurse here at National Jewish Health. I'm here to tell you about the different kinds of oxygen systems available to you.

The first is a compressed gas system. These are tanks that are made out of metal, and they carry gas that's put under pressure. Typically, for leaving the home, you would put it in a little wagon or trolley that you can roll behind you easily.

The second is a concentrator. There are large standard concentrators that go in your home, and they are plugged in. They make oxygen out of the room air for you. You can attach a long nasal cannula to it and move about your home.

The third kind is a liquid system. The oxygen supply company would bring you a big tank and fill it with liquid oxygen. And they give you a smaller tank that you can carry on your shoulder or in a backpack. You fill the smaller tank off the big tank, and you can go out and about and do the things that you want to do.

The fourth kind is a portable concentrator. These systems make oxygen out of the room air, like the large concentrator. They only go up to a certain number of liters per minute, so not everyone qualifies for this. The limitation to this is it doesn't go very high with the liter flow, so not everyone qualifies for it, and it needs either a battery or to be plugged in to recharge frequently.

And the fifth kind is a high-flow system. If you require more than a certain number of liters of oxygen per minute, you would get a high-flow system. This would entail having a nasal cannula that is larger and carries more oxygen more quickly for you.

Please contact your healthcare provider to see which system is suitable for you. Thank you.