Contraindications to O2 Administration

sorry, its always been taught to me that that was a contraindication.
 
HNcorpsman said:
sorry, its always been taught to me that that was a contraindication.
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Start reading. You'll find my posts as well as a few others that contributed to the many threads on the topic. The links will give you plenty of information. Remember, hypoxia will kill quicker than hypercarbia.
 
Explorer127 said:
Why shouldn't you give people with COPD O2?
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My understanding is that people believe that COPDers have a hypoxic drive and are stimulated to breathe by low O2 levels and not high carbon dioxide levels like "normal people" because they normally have high CO2 levels in their blood, and that by giving them too much O2 you will decrease their respiratory rate. But I also understand a very small percentage of patients have a hypoxic drive, and even so you shouldn't withhold oxygen.
 
Sasha said:
My understanding is that people believe that COPDers have a hypoxic drive and are stimulated to breathe by low O2 levels and not high carbon dioxide levels like "normal people" because they normally have high CO2 levels in their blood, and that by giving them too much O2 you will decrease their respiratory rate. But I also understand a very small percentage of patients have a hypoxic drive, and even so you shouldn't withhold oxygen.
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Interesting. I'm assuming you would still give them the O2 if they had a really low O2 sat, correct?
 
Explorer127 said:
Interesting. I'm assuming you would still give them the O2 if they had a really low O2 sat, correct?
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If your patient says they are SOB, or look like they're having trouble breathing, are cyanotic, etc. Give them O2. Don't depend on a pulse ox to tell you when to give oxygen and when not to.
 
MMiz said:
As a trained lay rescuer, are there any contraindications to emergency O2 administration to the general public? I can't think of any.

Thanks!
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Sorry for the late post here guys. But, according to what I know about O2 admin, there are only 2 contraindications to admin of emergent O2 in the prehospital setting.

1. Those who are not patients and are not complaining of anything whatsoever.

2. Those who have been discharged to the morgue.
 
Wait, you don't give O2 to the #2 pt's. Dang that is why the ME keeps looking at us funny!
 
COPD isn't a contraindication to O2. You just have to use your brain.
 
There are no actual contraindications of O2 use pre-hospital. However, there is mounting research that is rethinking the old adage of "O2 never hurt anyone". The AHA even recommended that patients not be blanket treated with 100% O2 due to evidence showing some potential harm from free radicals.

Treat the patient and administer O2 contingent upon their actual needs.
 
Just so long as you advise your pt not to smoke while on O2!! Seriously, had a guy a couple of months ago who nearly burned his face off because he was smoking with his cannula on!! What a gomer!!:P
 
Can anyone smarter than me (or at least anyone from fire -- not that those are mutually exclusive :P ) advise as to the actual "flammability" of 100% O2? My understanding was always that oxygen is not really flammable, per se, in the sense that it will ignite on its own; it's simply an accelerant for any flame which already exists. But then the story about the COPDer with the cannula and cigarette is a perennial favorite so I don't really know.
 
Fire needs three things to burn... Heat, Fuel, and Oxygen. Oxygen is an oxidizer and makes combustion much easier to occur. Think of it as super sensitizing the reaction.
 
All the oO2 will do to a cigarette is make it burn faster. The danger comes from lighting it. It can turn a 1" flame into a 1 foot flame!
 
Brandon Oto said:
But then the story about the COPDer with the cannula and cigarette is a perennial favorite so I don't really know.
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Since you are from California, you would have heard the TRUE stories of the many deaths that have occured in that state related to smoking and oxygen.

When a person know what happens when they light a cigarette while wearing O2 they will often remove the cannula and lay it in bed with them. Thus, when they accidentally drop the cigarette into the bed clothes, it goes into an oxygen enriched environment.

It is very difficult to weigh the odds of safety when a person is still smoking but requires home O2. The surviving family members love to hold the physician and other healthcare professionals responsible when a patient is sent home on O2 and then perishes in a house fire.

There is also another important issue to consider with patients who are smokers when it comes to giving O2. Many of you may have been taught a SpO2 of 92% is fine for "COPD" patients. However, if they are still smoking their actual SaO2 could be 82% and the rest is COHb. You may have to ignor your recipe and titrate the O2 until some relief is obtain as the SpO2 number will not be a true reflection of the actual "sat".
 
Brandon Oto said:
Can anyone smarter than me (or at least anyone from fire -- not that those are mutually exclusive :P ) advise as to the actual "flammability" of 100% O2? My understanding was always that oxygen is not really flammable, per se, in the sense that it will ignite on its own; it's simply an accelerant for any flame which already exists. But then the story about the COPDer with the cannula and cigarette is a perennial favorite so I don't really know.
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O2 isn't flammable. O2 is combustible.
 
ResTech said:
Fire needs three things to burn... Heat, Fuel, and Oxygen. Oxygen is an oxidizer and makes combustion much easier to occur. Think of it as super sensitizing the reaction.
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Is it now a tire tetrahedron rather than a triangle in fire science? Seems like it takes 4 things not 3. :unsure:
 
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