Learn about Oxygen Therapy Equipment
As your healthcare partner, VitalAire is available 24 hours a day to provide you with oxygen therapy solutions and answer your questions.
As experts in oxygen therapy, our solutions are easy to use so you can breathe easier and improve your daily life. Our skilled professional team will supply all your oxygen equipment and train you in its safe applications at your home.
Related services
How can we help? We have a number of oxygen therapy options designed to improve the quality of your life.
| Oxygen deliveries | We can deliver oxygen to you anywhere in South Africa, with guaranteed continuity of supply and a help line for queries. |
| Set up and education | VitalAire can set up your oxygen equipment and train you and your family in its safe use in the comfort of your home. |
| Maintenance services | You can rely on our expertise to maintain your equipment in peak condition so it is always available when you need it. |
| Oxygen equipment rentals | We offer affordable rental options on a wide range of equipment for your convenience. VitalAire is a preffered supplier for various Medical Schemes. |
| Oximetry services | VitalAire can test your oxygen levels at home with our oximetry service, ensuring your oxygen therapy prescription is effective. |
Equipment for Oxygen Therapy
We provide a complete list of accessories to suit all types of needs. Check out the 3 main sources of medical oxygen:
Stationary Concentrator
Oxygen concentrators are devices capable of separating nitrogen and oxygen molecules from atmospheric air, providing an air flow consisting of approximately 100% oxygen.
They work connected to the electricity grid and therefore you should always have at least one small cylinder in case of a power outage.
Current devices are practical, small, easy to transport because they have casters (wheels) and capable of delivering a flow from 0.5 to 10L/min. Some models perform nebulization without relying on other equipment.
Portable Concentrator
The Portable Oxygen Concentrator must be used exclusively under medical prescription for patients who need supplemental oxygen. Some portable models can provide continuous flow and/or pulsed dose delivery at home, institutions and during travel. On average, they weigh around 2.5 to 4.5 kg, which allows for greater flexibility to be away for a day, to go to work, for a weekend or a long vacation.
Medical Oxygen Cylinder
Accessories for Oxygen Therapy
The essential accessory for all those who make use of home oxygen therapy is the oximeter.
The pulse oximeter is a non-invasive method that provides an immediate measurement of oxygen saturation in arterial blood and immediately detects its sudden variations.
Indications for the use of the oximeter
With the use of the oximeter, the patient can assess whether the flow of oxygen used is capable of maintaining oxygen saturation within the limit recommended by the doctor.
Generally, the objective is to maintain SpO² greater than 90% during all activities of daily living, which may vary according to each case and pathology.
Both at rest and during activities of daily living, such as bathing, walking, exercising, and even on plane travel, the amount of oxygen flow used at rest is often not sufficient to maintain saturation during these activities, and this can be easily seen at home, using an oximeter.
Stay tuned
Patients with chronic lung diseases usually only start to show symptoms of shortness of breath, cyanosis of the extremities when blood oxygen is already far below recommended. In this case, if the patient has an oximeter, he will be able to observe and thus correct the low oxygen level even in the absence of symptoms.
The patient should notify their physician immediately of this sudden drop in SpO², after checking that there are no problems with the oxygen source.
Sudden drop in oxygen level (for example, during a cold) can be a sign of trouble.
Presence of a heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute or less than 40 beats per minute should be reported immediately to the physician. During a shortness of breath it is possible that the oxygen level is normal. The patient should seek medical attention if the shortness of breath worsens, “wheezing” occurs, or the heart rate increases, even if the SpO² is normal.
References
2 - https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/cabin_safety/portable_oxygen
3- https://www.vitalaire.fr/vous- accompagner-domicile-insuffisance-respira…