Medical gases perform a critical role in health care delivery and are used in a variety of locations.
A medical gas pipeline system (MGPS) is used in health care facilities to provide a safe, convenient and cost-effective delivery system of medical gases to the clinical and nursing staff at the point-of-use: patients.
Oxygen is one of the most extensively used gases and is used for respiratory therapy, life-support and in anaesthetic procedures. Gas pipeline installations also deliver medical air which is mainly used in respiratory therapy, as a power source for patient ventilators, and for blending with oxygen. Medical air is usually supplied from a compressed air plant that utilises high-quality drying and filtration equipment. Surgical air (of medical air quality) is also used, at a higher pressure, to power a variety of surgical tools and other devices such as tourniquets.
Nitrous oxide is used for anaesthetic and analgesic purposes and a helium/oxygen mixture is used to treat patients with respiratory or airway obstruction and to relieve symptoms and signs of respiratory distress.
