Top of Page Compressed oxygen is the most common carrier gas used in anesthesia machines to support the metabolic needs of the patient and to deliver the anesthetic agent. If your facility does not have oxygen lines plumbed in the wall or ceiling, you will need to use cylinders in your procedure area to provide the oxygen. Since all standard anesthesia machines already have flowmeters to change the PSI to LPM, this second stage is not only unnecessary, it impairs the performance of the anesthesia machine. It is important to utilize only pressure regulators, not flow regulators. If you will be using your anesthesia machine in a limited number of locations, you may want to opt for an H-cylinder in each area.
Operational costs are less, as is the hassle of calling for tank refills.
All cylinders, when not directly attached to an anesthesia machine or cylinder cart, should be mechanically secured to a solid surface for safety. OSHA inspectors use canisters to collect an air sample and send the sample back to a laboratory for analysis. Safety assessment personnel at some larger facilities are using expensive real-time monitors. Analytical chemical laboratories, which issue and analyze badges, use a time-weighted average or other method of analysis to determine PEL's. Without a specific guideline from OSHA, some type of monitoring is always better than none.