oxygen & smoking

[chessington]

My neighbour is being discharged from hospital with oxygen, he has breathing problems COPD and has said he is still going to smoke, is this safe??
thanks in advance

[Old_Geezer]

Before she died my mother was on oxygen, yet continued to smoke without any incident. So I'm surprised one can report an unfortunate incident and wonder if there was some other factor involved. (As for my mother, there seemed little point in enduring giving up something she enjoyed when her days were numbered anyway.)

[Philtaz]

Safe? Who said it was safe?

http://www.thisisexet...174-detail/story.html

http://www.mirror.co....w-up-115875-22770616/

Stupid is as stupid does.......

[dave50]

Smokers pay a lot more in tax than it costs to treat them so let him carry on. If everyone who smoked stopped, then there would be a big hole in public finances so I say let them all continue, as long as the rest of us profit out of it who cares?

[daisya]

Dave I agree except if it's near me, I am loathe to have my hair and clothes covered in the residue of someone else's smoke! If it smelled nice I wouldn't be so anti, but it doesn't and I don't like smelling like an ashtray (yuk) when it's not coming from me!

[B00]

I'm with rowan and Anne, i know this wasn't the question, but if someone is so ill they require oxygen, why deny them one of the few pleasures they still get which might be smoking?

[cathfromsaron]

no absolutely not safe! if he has any naked flames around the cylinders he could end up as a human fire ball! i work in pulmonary and in this area they won't prescribe oxygen therapy to smokers or to any home with an open fire! xx

[Sqad]

http://www.medbc.com/...2/text/vol19n2p99.asp


It would seem that my advice on this topic was not up to my usual high standards ;-)

[anneasquith]

one point may be relevant, someone with advanced COPD may well also be confused , which may account for accidents at home , when someone is on home o2

[237SJ]

In the old days of smoking on aircraft, smoking was prohibited in the same row and forward and aft of anyone using therapeutic oxygen. There were very good reasons for that.

[chessington]

Thanks all of you for the replies, The smoker says he will smoke outside but can barely walk!!! and when the weather changes he won't go outside I know. As long as our house is safe (semi, so an alleyway between us) that is good, he is a nice man but WON'T quit the fags so I guess he will just have to get on with it.

[Old_Geezer]

Aye, it has been a while now: it is possible the smoking was done some distance away from the chair where the oxygen cylinder was. Difficult to recall that far back.

[Sqad]

Back in the 60's and 70's, in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, along with patients who were gassed i World War 1, many patients were suffering from Chronic Bronchitis, Pneumoconiosis, and other chronic lung disorders and they were sent home from hospital with O2 cylinders, for continuous or intermittent O2 administration. They lived in small miners houses, the bed downstairs with an open coal fire and I cannot remember any explosions or accidents.
I am not saying that they weren't any.....just that I had never heard of any.

[chessington]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I didn't expect that many wow. I spoke to the man putting in the oxygen as we had the key for the man's property and he was due home that day, he said he has to turn off the machine if he wants a fag or go outside as he has seen patients catch fire on it and gave me the number to phone him if the man smoked near the machine and said he would remove it immediately. I also do understand that terminal illness, why give up something you like, he just has to be safe.