Monoplace Delivery System

Monthly Hyperbaric Safety Notice: July 2008

Particulate Filters

Background

In 2002, NFPA added a requirement in 99, chapter 20.2.9.3. The supply gas piping for all air, oxygen, or other breathing mixtures from certified commercially supplied flasks or cylinders shall be provided with a particulate filter of at least 10 microns or finer.

The Issue

Despite the manufacturer’s quality assurance process to ensure the purity of the gas contents and absence of particulate matter, debris has been occasionally identified at the user end of the line. The reason for this is likely due to the transfer process within the hyperbaric facility.
When a new cylinder needs to be hooked up to the manifold, the cylinder’s metal cap is removed. These caps are known to contain rust or paint chippings. The cylinder valve should be cracked open then closed to blow out potential debris in the nozzle. When the technician is ready to attach the gas hose, ideally the connection will now be free of all debris.
Placing the particulate filter at the end of the gas hose or pipe as close to the cylinder source as possible serves to prevent any remaining debris from traveling down the line to the user. This added measure helps to ensure that our patients are breathing gases free of contaminant matter greater than 10 microns.

Bottom Line

Inspect all your gas lines running from cylinders to ensure a particulate filter has been installed. If you cannot locate this approximately 2” long metal filter then you may be missing it. Only filters meeting the construction requirements of ANSI/ASME PVHO-1, Safety Standard for Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy are approved. Ensure you get one installed and inspect it regularly. The UHMS Accreditation team will be looking for this item.

Stacy Handley, RN, BSN, ACHRN, CWCN, CHT

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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