2022 HME Business Handbook: Respiratory
How To Keep Home Oxygen Patients Safe and Prevent Costs
- By Elizabeth Ramer
- Jun 01, 2022
Each year, hundreds
of homecare patients are
unnecessarily killed or injured in
home oxygen-related fires in the
United States.
The cause is all too often
the same. Patients that are
prescribed home oxygen therapy
are commonly being treated for
respiratory conditions from long-term
smoking. Despite the known
hazards, research has found that
up to half of all home oxygen
users continue to smoke while on
oxygen. That is startling, given
that a fire ignited by a cigarette
spreads very rapidly in an oxygen-enriched
atmosphere.
While smoking is believed
to be the leading cause of home
oxygen-related fires, any open
flame is considered hazardous to
home oxygen patients and those
around them. And high-pressure
oxygen tanks are at great risk
of exploding when engulfed in
fire, endangering occupants and
emergency workers even further. In
fact, research on these types of fires
suggests that, despite extensive
safety efforts by the oxygen
industry, a tank explodes in one
out of every three oxygen fires.
These fires can quickly
spread — one in four results in
a whole house fire — affecting
neighbors, emergency workers,
and communities. However, HME
providers can provide life-saving
products that help prevent this.
KNOWING THE FACTS
Firefighters are acutely aware of the
dangers of house fires where oxygen
equipment is present, and have been
stepping up their efforts to educate, riskassess
and mitigate against them.
“Patients [involved in a] home oxygen
[fire] are five times more likely to end up
on a ventilator compared to patients with
burns unrelated to home oxygen tanks,”
explains Deputy Chief Greg Rogers of
the Spokane Valley Fire Department
(SVFD). “One study of late outcomes
following burn center admission for
home oxygen tank-related burns noted
that just over one-third of patients never
return home, and that mortality at one
year was over 50 percent. The medical
and insurance costs for these burn
injuries are in the billions of dollars.”
A PREVENTATIVE DEVICE
One of SVFD’s newest initiatives
promotes thermal fuses, a small
preventative device that they say will
reduce the risk of fire injuries and
fatalities.
A thermal fuse (also known as a
firebreak) cuts the flow of oxygen if the
patient’s downstream oxygen tubing is
ignited. It is installed directly onto the
oxygen concentrator or tank and as close
to the patient as possible. It is designed
to work no matter which method of
oxygen delivery patients use and—with a
lifespan of five years—is a longer-lasting
replacement for standard oxygen tubing
connectors.
Throughout Europe, the installation
of thermal fuses is required for all home
oxygen installations. In fact, the chance
of an oxygen fire fatality is 20 times
greater in the United States than in
England, where firebreaks have been
mandatory since 2006.
In 2018, the United States Veterans
Health Administration (VA) mandated
the fitting of thermal fuses to all 85,000
veterans’ home oxygen installations.
GRASPING THE SCALE
A recent survey by a thermal fuse
manufacturer asked home oxygen
equipment providers about their
awareness of fires and preventative
strategies. Many respondents did not
grasp the scale of the issue due to
the infrequent reporting of fires. One
respondent said it was not unusual to
hear about a fire involving home oxygen
months up to a year after the incident.
Most home oxygen providers said they
were aware of thermal fuses and around
half know that the VA mandates their use.
Of the home oxygen providers surveyed,
95 percent said that thermal fuses are
effective in preventing fires.
A WIDESPREAD CONCERN
Home oxygen fires remain a serious
public health concern in many countries
worldwide, but particularly in the United
States: from 2017 to 2021, 567 fires
involving home oxygen and 316 fatalities
were reported by the media.
However, experiences around the
world show that a coordinated approach
to patient safety and simple safety
devices can make a big difference.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Home oxygen fires remain a
serious public health concern, with
hundreds of people killed or injured
each year in the US
- Firefighters increasingly recommend
thermal fuses to reduce the
risk of fire injury or fatality
- Also known as a firebreak, a thermal
fuse cuts the flow of oxygen if the
patient’s downstream tubing is
ignited
- Thermal fuses last five years and
can replace standard oxygen tubing
connectors, saving money
- 95 percent of providers say thermal
fuses are effective
LEARN MORE
To learn more about the Spokane
Valley Fire Department’s initiative at spokanevalleyfire.com. For more
information on firebreaks, visit firebreaks.info.
This article originally appeared in the May/Jun 2022 issue of HME Business.
About the Author
Elizabeth Ramer is the Content Editor for Sunset Healthcare Solutions and works closely with the sales, product development, and marketing departments to ensure that the most helpful information about Sunset's products is effectively communicated to customers and patients.