Where is Oxygen Used?
Oxygen is used virtually everywhere in hospitals. Hospitals use oxygen every single day that they are open. Oxygen tanks are used in laboratories as well as patient rooms and operating rooms. Basically oxygen is given to any patient that is having any trouble at all breathing. Oxygen is given to patients with lung disease, emphysema, bronchial problems, or any other breathing issues. Patients with any type of lung or bronchial issues are always put on oxygen as a precautionary measure. Oxygen is use signs are placed outside the hospital room of any patient that is using oxygen in their room. Oxygen is also used many times during labor and delivery. Many times mothers are given oxygen during childbirth to ensure that their babies are delivered easily and in good health. Oxygen is also used in most surgeries and operating rooms. Many times people don’t get enough oxygen when under anesthesia and need help from an oxygen tank.

Everyone breathes in oxygen constantly on a daily basis; it is absolutely essential to human life. Hospitals are in the business of saving lives and keeping people healthy and therefore use a lot of oxygen. Oxygen is used on many patients in hospitals - in their rooms, in the operating room, and other places. Many people are given oxygen before a surgery to help them with their anesthesia and to calm their nerves. An oxygen in use sign can be found outside any room that is used to store oxygen or where oxygen is regularly used. These signs are also found outside of patient’s rooms that are currently on an oxygen tank. It is important to have these signs posted at eye level if possible so that they are noticed easily and can be seen by all people in the hospital or health care facility.

Regulations
There are some regulations regarding oxygen in use signs in hospitals. There are regulations stating that a sign shall be placed that can be easily read from a distance of five feet on any door or threshold of a room that contains oxygen. These signs are almost always red, and are generally accompanied by a no smoking or no open flame symbol. HSI offers a wide variety of no open flame signs. You can customize one of these signs in any of the forty plus colors offered by HSI. There are long rectangular shaped signs as well as square signs and even door hangers. Some of these signs are adhesive and some are mounted. There are also signs with backgrounds and some have hard edges while others are rounded off. HSI creates these signs that simply say ‘oxygen’, while others are more detailed. The signs that state ‘oxygen is use’ are used for patients that are using oxygen, or during surgeries or labs that require oxygen to be used. Signs that state ‘oxygen storage’ are used for permanent storage areas. Any area that stores large amounts of oxygen needs to be labeled as such. Oxygen in use signs can be door hangers that are easily interchangeable between hospital or patient rooms. These signs will cut down on cost of signs since they can be moved and reused so easily.

Regulations concerning an oxygen is use sign differ from facility to facility. Many buildings and counties have different regulations concerning the proper size, color, and visibility of a sign. Generally speaking, it’s a safe bet that an oxygen in use sign should be placed in an area that can be seen and it should be in a font size that can be read clearly from a distance of at least five feet. HSI offers these signs in a plethora of colors and they can be rectangular or square shaped. Some regulations require you to use red and white on these signs. Red is generally a color that catches your eye and indicates a warning or that something is not permitted. You can also customize these signs to include the symbols for no smoking and no open flame so that everyone is aware that oxygen can be dangerous in certain instances.

Laws
Specific laws concerning the storage and maintenance of oxygen differ from state to state. Some laws require certain wording on signs, and others require contrasting colors and font sizes. Many laws require oxygen in use signs to be posted on the entry way of any door or threshold that leads to a room that permanently stores oxygen. These regulations also state that signs informing users of the presence of oxygen should be legible from at least five feet away. These laws are set in place to ensure that the public is aware of all oxygen tank storage facilities in time to adjust their actions before they are too close to the oxygen. For instance, a smoker would be aware of the presence of oxygen and could put out their cigarette before they were close enough to the oxygen to be in danger. The general rule with an oxygen in use sign is that it needs to be clearly visible from a reasonable distance and in bold clear letters and colors.

Unfortunately not everyone is aware of the dangers involved in storing and using oxygen. Because of this, laws have had to be put in place to ensure that everyone is aware of what can happen when oxygen and fire are combined. The five foot visibility radius allows a person to discontinue any dangerous activity they are partaking in at that time. Certain areas require that these signs be printed in red with white lettering so that they are easily noticed and cannot be ignored. Others require that the signs be in a certain font size, and of course there are a whole other set of laws concerning whether or not Braille is required.

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Safety in hospitals is of the utmost importance. Generally speaking, if you are being hospitalized your body is either in recovery or very sick. People in hospitals often times have depleted immune systems and require extra precautions to remain healthy. Oxygen is often given to these patients and other patients with decreased lung functions. Oxygen tanks are given to these patients and oxygen is administered through a plastic tube in the nose. Nurses and doctors are required to check these tanks on a regular basis to make sure that they are still functional and being used properly. Having a sign on a patient’s door stating that they are using an oxygen tank allows doctors and nurses to do their jobs better. Instead of having to remember which rooms have patients on oxygen, nurses can simply look at the door of their patient and immediately know whether or not they require special attention. Oxygen in use signs are often accompanied by no smoking signs and no open flames signs just to reiterate the dangers of mixing fire and oxygen. The number one way to put out any fire is to deprive it of oxygen. Fires cannot exist without oxygen, and subsequently cannot be put out if they are fed a steady diet of oxygen. When patients are given oxygen it does not all go directly into their body. Oxygen is administered through a plastic tube that the patient is to keep in their nose. This can get annoying and patients often take the tube out of their nose for short periods of time. During this period of time oxygen is free flowing from the tube and saturating the room with the gas. Even when the tube is in the patient’s nose there is no way that 100 percent of the gas is making its way into the lungs and being converted into carbon dioxide. This also leads to a room saturated with oxygen. Any room that has such a high concentration of oxygen in it is unsafe when presented with a flame. For this reason, oxygen in use signs are required outside any patient’s room that is on an oxygen tank. Ambulances are also equipped with oxygen. Ambulance banks in hospitals should be treated as an oxygen storage room. There are oxygen tanks on every ambulance and the saturation of oxygen can be higher since the space is much smaller than an operating or patient room. For this reason signs should be placed around the ambulance banks warning the public of the dangers of smoking or lighting a flame around the space.

What it all boils down to is the safety of the patients and visitors in a hospital. Having an oxygen in use sign can protect the people in the hospital as well as the people visiting the hospital from a fire or explosion. These signs also protect the hospital from having to deal with law suits brought on by oxygen related fires. Another reason that hospitals and health care facilities have so many signs concerning this issue is because they are protecting their facility. The amount of money that it would take to rebuild a hospital, or even a wing of a hospital were it to burn down or be damaged by a fire started or accelerated by oxygen could be astronomical. It’s much safer and cheaper to simply invest in clear and visible signs stating where oxygen is stored, used, and present. Saving lives and keeping patients safe should be the number one priority for any health care facility or hospital. Having these signs placed around the facility is a great way to make patients feel safe and cared for.

Get the signs you need from Health Care Signs today!