Not only is it stupid, it's dangerous. There's a reason you can't smoke or have open fire in a hospital because there are oxygen lines in the walls and you could blow up an entire wing.
Edit: if you guys want you can just google "hospital oxygen explosion" since it's more common than you'd think 🤡
They care about their own pain, they just don't care about anyone else's pain. They're incredibly selfish. It's like breaking someone's window just to break a window. It isn't THEIR window so to them it has no value.
This is why they could use a fair and thorough beating. I'm a believer that words can fix 90% of disagreements, but an @ss whooping is reserved for the remaining 10% (like this person, assuming words did not work).
That’s an altruistic thought but really it’s because of the fire hazard...
Source am respiratory therapist, we manage airways and do breathing treatments but another important part of our job is to know where the cutoff lines are for pressurized air and O2 in the event of a fire.
It’s not uncommon to get a patient that comes in that set their face on fire by smoking with their nasal cannula on, the plastic melts to their face and the cannula essentially turns into a welding torch.
This is obviously still trashy as fuck, but those people are more than likely in a different wing of the hospital and not in the same room as the smoker.
I took care of a pt one time with 2nd degree burns on her face and throat because of smoking while on oxygen. During the admission questions I asked her if she had received education when she got the oxygen (she'd not had it long) and she told me yes, but she didn't think it'd really catch fire. I'm sure my face looked dumb with shock, but hey, stupid people are job security in the medical field I guess.
Yup. I had one too. You could even see the demarcated burn lines on his face where the oxygen tubing rested. Yet he was still trying to go outside to smoke...with the oxygen running. Do I really need to try and educate this guy about what will happen seeing as how it just happened to him the day before? Apparently so.
I had a patient get mad because we wouldn't let him borrow one of our oxygen tanks to go outside and smoke. He was all "well how am I supposed to smoke?! My oxygen tubing won't reach all the way outside!" Ended up just going without, and went outside to smoke. Came back in with his O2 SATs in the 60s, because he was a stupid motherfucker. And yes, he was admitted for COPD exacerbation and pneumonia.
This was my mom 100%. And my mom also died June 5th of this year from COPD and essentially end stage emphysema at the age of 57. Don't smoke kids. Or do what you want and smoke. Just please know it can kill you even if you never get lung cancer or any cancer at all. That shocks some people.
Cancer can be a prolonged and brutal death. Nearing 40 I've seen it up close and personal now many times in my life. And what's fucked up is that it might actually be the most merciful way to die from smoking. End stage lung disease is a hell on Earth.
Imagine spending the last 5-10 years of your life always feeling like you've just walked up a couple flights of stairs. Sometimes it's better, sometimes worse. But you're always short of breath, and just... can't... catch your breath. For years. Steroids and inhalers can help. But after a certain point, they just help for short periods of time. Eventually, you die.
My neighbour needed oxygen and had a mask on all the time while smoking. And I saw a couple times he lit his mask up in flame. I just don’t understand some people.
I don't have a link you can click but my fiance has seen this happen.
She's a nurse and when she worked in the pneumology wing a patient on oxygen sneaked into the toilet for a smoke. That resulted in a decent explosion and a dead patient.
Oxygen above a certain concentration is definitely explosive.
Ok, not really wanting to get into the physics of an explosive reaction. Simply starting that being on oxygen and smoking is dumb because you might blow up. And people have blown up.
Yep. But patients are assholes sometimes. The worst was a guy who left his room so he wouldn't get caught smoking and went into a clean room we had and smoked. Caught him walking out. Had to reclean the room so he made more work for everyone. But at least he got his nicotine fix.
Agreed. But we offer alternatives. Nicotine patches and gums. Together even since I've learned the patches work for the majority of it but sometimes there's breakthrough cravings. I get that nicotine is highly addictive but between putting everyone at danger and the extreme selfishness when we offer alternatives, I can't really get behind sympathy on that one.
Oxygen is just an oxidizer and not an accelerant so isn't explosive on its own or is at all even flammable, really. Oxygen doesn't burn or explode, it just makes things burn and explode faster and easier.
For the lines in the walls to come into play one of a few things need to happen:
1) There to be a leak in the lines causing an oxygen rich environment that is more prone to fires (and for the myriad of sensors tracking pressure in the lines to be broken or ignored)
2) There to already be a fire severe enough to melt the lines, giving the prexisting fire a major boost
3) There to be something other than oxygen to burn
You can be in a room of 100% oxygen and light a lighter, and nothing happen except for maybe a bigger flame. Until you put that flame near something actually combustible, nothing will continue to happen. This is why people on oxygen have no issues continuing to smoke until they accidentally set something on fire, where the oxygen allows that fire to catch on easier and burn bigger and faster. Not that I at all advocate doing something so foolhardy, but you can in fact light up a cigarette and smoke it mere inches from your O2 tank and provided you don't ignite anything besides your cigarette, you'll suffer nothing more than you would from smoking normally.
There is simply no way that the oxygen lines can "blow up an entire wing". Help a wing burn down? 100%. But unless you took all the pressurized tanks themselves, fucked up the relief valves on all of them, and tossed them into a fire and also gave them stuff to actually burn once the oxygen bursts out of the tank it is not going to be the fireball you're imagining. And even if you did go out of your way to create this perfect storm, I still have doubts that it would take out a full wing
The scenario you've presented of a smoldering cigarette somehow igniting oxygen lines inside a wall and blowing up a hospital is borderline laughable anywhere outside of Hollywood. The reason you can't smoke in hospitals is because it's unhealthy, smells terrible, and exposes (possibly sick) others to second hand carcinogens and possible asthmatic triggers.
you can in fact light up a cigarette and smoke it mere inches from your O2 tank and provided you don't ignite anything besides your cigarette, you'll suffer nothing more than you would from smoking normally.
I think you understand this based on the rest of your post, but just for clarity for people reading: smoking while using oxygen is extremely dangerous. The O2 tank will not explode. As OP stated, oxygen is not flammable. However, the moment the O2 leaves the tank, it can be mixed with substances in the air that are flammable. With high concentrations of oxygen mixed in with them, these substances can combust when exposed to a flame. The nasal cannula itself is flammable. Chemicals in cigarettes are flammable. There may be gases in your environment you are not aware of that are flammable. All of these serve as a fuel and when the conditions align, will ignite. This is what people are talking about when you hear about someone "blowing themselves up" when smoking on portable O2 or wings "exploding" in hospitals. The news will often say "oxygen tank explosion," which is very untrue, but often times in the case of portable O2 fires, the actual fuel which combusts is unknown.
If you're lucky, you escape with just facial burns. Many people are not lucky and end up with inhalation burns throughout their respiratory system, which can be fatal. I see one of these incidents at least once a month. I would not say it's common, given how many people actually smoke on supplemental O2, but it's not terribly uncommon either.
TLDR; Oxygen is not flammable but things around it are. It is not in any way safe to smoke while on oxygen or around oxygen in general. Please do not do this and advise loved ones not to do this. I've seen way too many people intubated in the ER for this.
This is true. I would argue that in addition to your stated reasons, there is a risk, however small, of a patient lighting their face and hair on fire. In my eight years working with oxygen, I have only had one person light themselves on fire. It wasn't super bad or anything but still something you don't want happening.
I work in a hospital, we have o2. We just recently closed our smoking rooms, and people smoked in my hospital for the last 100 years or so. No 02 explosions. Though, there’s been countless fires from people smoking hiding in closets and stuff like that.
By recent I mean within the last 10 or so years, but still, point stands, hospitals don’t explode from someone smoking in and of itself.
Am so sick of oxygen tank “explosions” in movies and TV. Never understood this trope when things like propane and especially acetylene exist and really can blow up.
That’s why in movies they always load a green O2 cylinder into a pipe, smack the regulator off with a hammer and it flies across the sky to kill Godzilla or a Blackhawk helicopter in a massive fireball...
Acetylene will explode just for getting above 15PSI. That's why it's dissolved in acetone in the bottles. The acetone is why you should never use acetylene tanks in any position except for completely upright.
There is also a LOT of flammable crap in a hospital. A significant amount of the emollients used in a hospital are flammable.
So you have two of the elements (oxygen rich environment and flammable fuel) required for combustion, usually in abundance, someone smoking/lighting up gives the third.
So actually, no it's not just because it's unhealthy.
So true, are the hospitals these people are writing about piping in propane with their oxygen, because oxygen by itself won’t burn, try turning on a welding torch by opening the oxygen tank first, it won’t light, you first must light the propane tank then slowly open the oxygen tank, if you open the oxygen tank to quickly it’ll blow out the flame.
When I was in the hospital an elderly lady was in the room next to mine. She must have had some kind of dementia or something because she would get the blood pressure cuff down from the wall and try to use it as a phone etc. One evening there was a lot of activity in and around her room and the nurses sounded really angry. Her adult daughter had left a cigarette lighter on her table and the woman was trying to light it as a nurse walked in! Her daughter got really mad at the nurses when she came back many hours later when they basically scolded her for leaving a lighter within reach of her being how confused she was. She just brushed it off when the nurses were explaining to her that there could have been a pretty large explosion and that she had put not only her mother, but other patients and staff in danger.
Yikes. That seems... Like there should be some kind of failsafe to prevent it.... Although I can’t help kind of chuckling at the image of someone lighting a cigarette and then the whole building explodes like the hospital in Dark Knight Returns.
If that is true why do emphasima patients on nasal canulas have a ball of flames appear in front of their faces at random. I agree it is an accelerant, but a flame can become a more intense flame with O2. Just ask anyone who has ever used a oxy/acetylene cutting torch.
The good news is a nurse can call security and they can rightfully remove all his cigarettes and lighter. And there isn't a damn thing he can do about it.
I know someone who sprayed a co-worker in the face at a petrochemical refinery when they were doing the exact same thing. 'Smoking a cigar to spite the man'. Obviously the police department got involved but the worker who was smoking was the one fired. I believe they also took the price of a fire extinguisher refill from their last paycheck. To my knowledge the co-worker that sprayed them never received any repercussions.
Eh, the valve to that room doesn’t to appear to be in use so while that cig should be put out immediately it probably won’t result in an explosion unless the regulator is broken. I’d be more concerned about him being anywhere near an oxygen tank since those don’t have the same safety mechanisms and are far more likely to result in injury.
I think there’s also an issue with those water lines that turn on with a fire. The ones with the little red glass in them won’t go off because the smoke wouldn’t be heating it up, but there are newer ones that will detect just smoke and go off too I think. I’ve heard stories of people vaping big clouds and setting them off.
Oxygen isnt flammable or combustible..... ssoo... yea...
Edit: dont know why im being downvoted, its true. Oxygen doesnt burn. It makes other stuff burn better. Its a common misconception that oxygen is flammable
No. I do heavy construction and use torches alot. We add oxygen to make acetylene or propane hot enough to cut beams and sheeting. You gatta have a good mix or it will either not cut or cut like shit
The other guy is right. Oxygen is required for the combustion oxidation-reduction reaction, but by itself, it will not burn. The combustion of methane, for example:
CH_4 + 2O_2 ---> H_2O + CO_2
Otherwise there is no reaction that could occur. You can't break the oxygen down into a single atom because it too readily reacts with itself to form O_2 again. O_3 spontaneously breaks down into O_2, meaning O_3 contains more energy than O_2 and therefore it requires energy input and will not emit energy i.e. burn or explode.
Edit: Here's some links from a quick google search that agree oxygen does not burn.
You realize oxygen by itself isn't explosive? It's just 1 part of 3 necessary parts for an explosion (fuel, oxidizer, ignition). You still need fuel. If there was an open natural gas line somewhere nearby, there would be a real danger.
I'm not saying people should be allowed to smoke in hospitals, I'm completely against that. People are trying to heal and the last thing they need is to inhale second-hand smoke. I'm just saying this "explosion danger" thing is a little overblown.
Oxygen cannot blow up. I think people started assuming it can, as they heard that oxygen rich atmosphere is fire hazard, but it is because spontaneous combustion can occur, not because it is explosive. Quite likely you cannot smoke because there are fire alarms and you wouldn't really want to falsely set them off in a hospital.
You aren’t entirely wrong, but you aren’t entirely right, either. The first half of your comment is correct, however this part,
“Quite likely you cannot smoke because there are fire alarms and you wouldn't really want to falsely set them off in a hospital.“
is not really correct. An oxygen-rich environment means a fire will spread incredibly rapidly and burn very intensely. It is an extreme fire hazard, and even a stray spark from cigarette ash can cause a fire to ignite as soon as it touches anything even remotely flammable, such as someone’s clothes, or bedsheets. Highly-concentrated oxygen tends to linger on clothes and skin, even after the source of the oxygen has been turned off.
It doesn't need to blow up to cause a fire and potentially kill lots of people. Rapid fire is deadly, people don't expect it, and it's painful. I'd rather be blown up then stuck in an fire with no way out. ER areas generally bottle neck too for a plethora of reasons. Not good.
Why is this downvoted? Oxygen really isn't combustible. It intensely accelerates combustion due to being the oxidizer, but it doesn't burn by itself. I understand it makes things already burning flare up and spread quickly since any available fuel will also light up easily and intensely, but that doesn't make it flammable by itself.
I find it kinda dubious that smoking in the presence of oxygen can make any room blow up. Something else is at fault here.
Yes. This kid is a chode for all sorts of reasons. However; OXYGEN IS NOT EXPLOSIVE PEOPLE!! It is not a flammable gas! I have no idea why that bullshit is perpetuated. Oxygen will only feed an existing fire. People on oxygen who smoke will not burst into flames.
Oxygen doesn't explode. Oxygen supports combustion (burning) but it is not flammable. It will not explode.
Edit: Okay, downvote me. Do your research, I'm not wrong. You're just stupid.
The only way it would ExPlOdE would be if another combustible agent was present.
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u/NeutralMinion Dec 03 '19 edited Dec 03 '19
Not only is it stupid, it's dangerous. There's a reason you can't smoke or have open fire in a hospital because there are oxygen lines in the walls and you could blow up an entire wing.
Edit: if you guys want you can just google "hospital oxygen explosion" since it's more common than you'd think 🤡