Living with your oxygen

Understanding your prescription

Your prescription is the rule

Oxygen is ordered the way other medicines are ordered. The flow, the hours, and the equipment come from your clinician. Diamond sets up what was written. We do not change the order.

Keep a copy of the prescription where you can find it. If a family member helps you, they should know where it is too.

How your prescription is written

Your prescription has a few parts, and it helps to know what you are looking at.

The flow. Oxygen is measured in liters per minute, written as LPM. An order for "2 LPM O2" means two liters of oxygen per minute.

The route. This is how the oxygen reaches you — the type of tubing it comes through. For most people that is a nasal cannula.

When to use it. Your clinician writes when the oxygen is for. That may be around the clock, while you sleep, during exertion, above a certain altitude, or some combination of those.

If you use another machine. Some people receive oxygen through a second device, such as a CPAP. If that is your setup, the order will include instructions for how the two work together.

What we will not guess

We will not tell you to turn the flow up or down. We will not say that “most people” use a certain number. If you feel worse, short of breath in a new way, or unsure the setting is right, call your prescribing clinician. If the question is the machine, the tubing, or supplies, call Diamond at (800) 977-3002.

Equipment you may have

Many people have a stationary concentrator at home. It plugs into the wall and pulls oxygen from room air. You may also have portable equipment and backup cylinders for power loss or time away from the outlet. Use each piece the way your technician showed you. If you were not shown, ask us to walk through it again.

Humidifier bottles

Some prescriptions include a humidifier bottle. If yours does, use only what you were shown and only the water type in your equipment instructions (often distilled water). If you were not prescribed a humidifier, do not add one on your own.

Day to day use

A small routine

The first weeks feel like a lot of gear. A short routine helps more than a perfect one.

• Same outlet, same spot, every day.
• Cannula on the way you were shown, tubing free of kinks.
• A glance at the flow setting against the written prescription.
• Extra cannula and tubing where you can reach them.

Move slowly at first. Your energy may not match the day you hoped for. That is common. Rest is part of using oxygen well.

Your energy and small adjustments

You do not have to rearrange the house. A few practical changes help.

• Keep the concentrator where air can move around it. Not in a closet. Not tight against drapes or a wall.
• Give yourself more time for stairs, showers, and the walk to the mailbox.
• Sit to put on shoes. Sit to dry off after a shower if standing wears you out.
• If eating leaves you winded, smaller meals and a slower pace often feel better.

If a task that used to be easy is suddenly hard, that is a clinician call. Do not fix it by changing the oxygen yourself.

People in the house

Anyone who smokes, cooks with open flame, or uses candles needs the same rules you do. Oxygen stays in fabric and hair. Ask visitors not to smoke in the home, and not near you when you are using oxygen. Post the “Oxygen in use. No smoking” card your technician left.

Petroleum jelly, oil-based lotions, and aerosol sprays near the face or the equipment are a poor mix with oxygen. Ask us what is safe on dry nose or lips if that is bothering you.

Going out

Plan the trip, not just the door

Leaving the house is allowed. It just takes a little planning.

• Confirm you have the portable unit or cylinders you were set up with.
• Check battery charge, or how much cylinder time you have, before you leave.
• Take spare batteries or a spare cylinder if that is part of your setup.
• Take this number: (800) 977-3002.

If you are not sure you have enough oxygen for the errand, call us before you go.

Batteries

Charge portable batteries the way the manufacturer booklet says. Bring the charger if you will be out long enough to need a wall outlet.

Airlines

Many people fly with a portable oxygen concentrator (POC). U.S. airlines may allow a POC that meets FAA acceptance criteria and, for many newer units, carries the manufacturer’s aircraft label. Airline policies still differ. Tanks and liquid oxygen have different rules than a POC and are not permitted on airplanes.

Do this early, not at the gate:

1. Ask your prescribing clinician whether you are cleared to fly and what they want the airline to know.
2. Call the airline and ask what they require for your exact device (notice, forms, batteries, seating).
3. Call Diamond at (800) 977-3002 if you need the model name or help reading the label on the unit.

We will not invent a battery-hour number for your flight. The airline will tell you their requirement. Your clinician speaks to whether you should fly.

Do not skip oxygen for a short trip because the tank is heavy or the battery is low. Call us. We can talk through the setup you already have.

Emergencies

Power outages

A stationary concentrator needs wall power. When the power goes out, switch to the backup oxygen you were left (often cylinders).

• Know where the backup is and how to open it. If you do not, call us for a refresh before the next windstorm or planned power outage.
• If you cannot get the backup running and you need oxygen, call 911. Then call us at (800) 977-3002. That line is answered for emergency oxygen 24 hours a day.

Keep a flashlight near the equipment. Keep our number on the fridge and in your phone.

Wildfire smoke

Inland Empire wind days can fill the air with smoke during wildfires. Your concentrator pulls in room air. Smoke is hard on you and hard on filters.

• Stay inside with windows closed when air quality is bad, unless your clinician has told you something different.
• Run the concentrator in a cleaner room if you can. Keep dusty chores away from the intake.
• If the unit alarms, smells odd, or the filter looks loaded with ash, call us.
• If your breathing feels worse than your usual bad-air day, that is your clinician or 911, not a setting change.

We cannot give you a “safe AQI number” from this page.

When it is an emergency

Trouble breathing that is new or sudden, chest pain, confusion, blue lips or fingertips, or a machine you cannot get running when you need it: call 911. Then call Diamond if the problem is the equipment.

Cleaning and maintenance

Follow the booklet you were given

Cleaning schedules are not one-size. Your manufacturer booklet and what Diamond showed you at setup are the instructions that count. If they disagree with this page, follow the booklet and call us.

Habits that stay true across most home setups:

• Unplug the stationary concentrator before you wipe it.
• Wipe the outside with a slightly damp cloth. Do not pour water into the machine.
• Clean or swap the external filter the way you were shown. Let a washable filter dry completely before it goes back in.
• Do not put oil, spray cleaner, or household chemicals on the unit.

Cannula, mask, and tubing

• Wipe the outside of tubing if it is dusty. Do not run water through long oxygen tubing.
• Replace the cannula or mask when it is stiff, discolored, or cracked, after you have been ill, and on the schedule Diamond gave you.
• We will provide you with supplies for your equipment. We suggest that you replace the cannula (nose piece) every 30 days (or as needed), and the tubing every 60–90 days (sooner if damaged, cats, chairs, etc). If you are using a humidifier bottle, it can be refilled with distilled water and it is changed every 90 days.

If you use a humidifier bottle, empty leftover water, wash as instructed, and refill only as shown.

What we handle

Supplies, filters and internal service are our job. If the machine is louder than usual, warmer than usual, or throwing an alarm you do not recognize, call (800) 977-3002.

General use and operation

Placement and power

• Plug the concentrator directly into a grounded wall outlet. Do not use an extension cord or a crowded power strip.
• Leave space around the vents.
• Do not set drinks or mail on top of it.
• Keep it away from heaters, stoves, fireplaces, candles, and anything that sparks. A common safety rule of thumb is about 10 feet from open flame.
• Turn oxygen off when you are not using it, if that is how you were instructed.

Alarms

If you missed the alarm walkthrough, call and we will go through it. Check the obvious first (power, tubing kink, cannula off the outlet). Call us if it does not clear.

Trip hazards

Long tubing catches on doorways and pets. Route it the way you were shown. If you need a different length, ask. Do not splice tubing with household parts.

Smoking and fire

No smoking. No vaping near oxygen. No smoking in the home where oxygen is used or stored. This is the rule we will not soften.

Working smoke alarms belong in a home with oxygen.

When to call Diamond

Questions patients often ask