Monoplace Delivery System

Monthly Hyperbaric Safety Notice: February 2008

Face Mask Function Check

Background

Built-in breathing systems for air are necessary for every treatment we provide to reduce the risk of CNS oxygen toxicity. Safe gas handling training is a separate and important issue. Ensuring the air travels effectively to the end user is also vitally important.

The Issue

Occasionally gas hoses and masks get mishandled and damaged. Chamber doors have been known to pinch hoses when the operator doesn’t clear them at the entrance. Masks and regulators get banged up or dropped resulting in possible malfunction for the patient. Additionally, patients need ongoing education on the use of their assigned mask. NFPA 99, 20.2.4.1.3.3 suggests we document proper function of our masks at each delivery pressure when we take delivery of new reusable masks or change brands of non-rebreather masks.

Bottom Line

Prior to each treatment, have the patient place the mask to the face and breathe. This will ensure proper fit, patient understanding and mask function. The regulator on the air cylinder should be set at 70 psi with the cylinder open. The meter valve on the chamber door should be turned clockwise for one quarter turn. This will ensure suitable air delivery via the mask in the chamber.

Stacy Handley, RN, BSN, ACHRN, CWCN

Stacy Handley Stacy is Vice President of National Baromedical Services. She assumed her present position following several years as nurse manager of the NBS hyperbaric medicine service at Memorial Hospital, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Stacy oversees the patient care aspects of the NBS network, conducts quality assurance and compliance assessments and preceptors all new NBS nurse managers. Additional responsibilities include marketing and promotion of NBS service lines and generation of monthly safety notices. Stacy is Member at Large for the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Associates and a board member for the Baromedical Nurses Association. She has trained as a Hyperbaric Safety Director and a UHMS faculty accreditation surveyor, and is a graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina ‘Wound Care Specialty Course’ through which she obtained her wound care certification

Full Panel of Safety and Technical Correspondents

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