Central Medical Gas System

C. S. Dudgikar

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 Index-1
1. Purpose of Hospital Gases
2. Decentralized System of Gases
3. Purpose of Suction
4. Decentralized System of Suction
5. Centralized System of Gases
 Introduction
 Functions
 Components
o Manifold Room
o Pipes
o Alarm System

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 Index-2
6. Centralized System – Vacuum
7. Centralized System – Compressed Air
8. Advantages of Centralized System –
1. For the patients
2. For the Hospital Staff
3. For Hospital Administrator
9. Location of Centralized System

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 Introduction
 Gases and Vacuum are used in hospitals for therapeutic
purposes
 The gases used in hospitals are
 Medical Gases
 Oxygen
 Nitrous Oxide
 Compressed air
 Vacuum

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 Decentralized System- Gases
 Practice to keep cylinders in various places in hospitals.
 these needed frequent replacements.
 fresh cylinder had to be at standby for sudden drop of
pressure.
 Required strict monitoring and more inventory of cylinder.
 More manpower was required for replacement and
movement of cylinders.
 It was also tedious to move large size cylinders.

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 Purpose of Suction
 when a patient is weak and cannot voluntarily throw out
saliva or cough secretions, suction is necessary.
 It is also needed in operation theatre, in dental clinic,
treatment areas.
 situations are listed as Cardio-pulmonary bypass (vent &
pump sucker) Gastric decompression, endoscopy, Surgical
suction (operative field, body cavities, TOP, Breech
extraction).

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 Decentralized System- Suction
 The unit had a suction pipe, a pump and a collection bottle.
 This used to be on a trolley and was moved close to a patient
when required.
 Hence large numbers of units were required.

 These were the problems of decentralized system. Hence

more and more hospitals are turning to centralized systems
of hospital gases.

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 Introduction- Centralized System
 Centralized gas and vacuum supply service is a modern
system of piped supply of medical gases from a central
storage area called manifold room to all delivery points in
hospital
 It provides a very efficient, economical and highly dependable
life support service
 Makes better patient care in all the areas of hospital

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 Functions
 Supply of right medical gases at right pressure
 Supply of compressed air at right pressure
 Supply of clinical vacuum at right pressure
 Proper planned maintenance of all equipments, including
distribution network
 Optimum level of cleanliness and pollution free environment
 Prevention of hazards such as fire, explosion or
contamination of gases supplied

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 Components
 Source of supply: Central supply room with control
equipment and panels
 Distribution system: piping
 Point of use delivery connections: Suitable station
outlet valves and pendants
 Monitoring and control equipment and alarms

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 Manifold Room
 A room of about 3x3 to 4.5x 4.5 meters is provided in
service area of the hospital. It should be directly accessible
from road so that loading and unloading of cylinder can be
done easily by bringing the vehicle next to the room. A wide
door of rolling shutter should be provided for easy
movement of cylinders. Ramp should be provided for easy
movement with help of trolleys or lifting and carrying
manually.
 The room and the ramp should have industrial flooring as
other type of flooring may get damaged due to movement of
cylinders.

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 Manifold Room
 Consists of a cylinder manifold and a control panel
 Manifold can be of 2 banks of 2 cylinders each or 2 banks of
20 cylinders each
 Control panel: primary and secondary pressure regulators;
warning lamp
 Pressure gauges

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 Pipes
 Should be seamless type, non-ferrous, non-arsenic, of high
quality copper tubing
 Should be protected against physical damage and corrosion
 Exposed oxygen pipelines should not be installed in areas like
kitchen, laundry and rooms where combustible materials are
stored
 Colour coded as per the gas content

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 Pipes
 Before pipes are erected, all pipes, tubes and fittings should
be cleaned thoroughly and washed with tetrachloride
 Pipes should be blown clear using oil-free air or nitrogen
 When whole system is in place, it should be subjected to a
test pressure of 150 psi or 1 ½ times the working pressure
for 24 hours to check, if it can withstand the pressure as well
as leakages
 This test, called pressure lock is done section by section

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 Alarm system
 Audio-visual
 Monitoring of pressure
 Meant to warn maintenance dept

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 Vacuum
 Used for patient draining, aspiration and suction
 Also used in hospital laboratory
 Distributed through network of pipes
 Central vacuum supply system with control equipments, an
alarm and piping
 The piping terminates with outlet valves at user points

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 Vacuum
 Central vacuum consists of two (or more) vacuum pumps
that operate either simultaneously or alternately
 Each pump should be capable of maintaining 75% of
calculated demand during peak time
 The pumps should alternate automatically
 Pumps should be equipped with a motor starting device and
overload protection
 Failure of one vacuum should not affect other

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 Compressed Air
 Compressed air is used for both medical and non-medical
puposes
 Medical use – Laboratory work, inhalation therapy
equipment and powering of surgical tools
 Non-medical use – maintain tools and equipments and in
engineering department

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 Compressed Air
 Should be free of dust and moisture
 Done by means of oil filters, dust filters, moisture seperator
and the dryer at equipment level
 Separate dryer for air compressor system
 If compressed air not used properly, it can damage
equipment and contaminate chemicals, food and drugs

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 Advantages of Centralized Medical Gas
System
 For the patients
 No distressing sight of oxygen cylinders at the bedside
 Elimination of irritating noise from movement of cylinders
 Protection of contamination due to movement of cylinders
 Uninterrupted and clean supply at desired location

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 Advantages of Centralized Medical Gas
System
 For Hospital Staff
 Instant availability of gas on taps
 Clean, safe and reliable delivery of gases
 Continuous flow of gases when and where required
 Minimal accident hazards due to mishandling of cylinders

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 Advantages of Centralized Medical Gas
System
 For Hospital Administrator
 Easy purchase of gases in bulk quantities at favourable terms
 Economy on purchase of cylinders
 Fewer breakages
 Rationalization in ordering, storing and transporting a wide
variety and size of gas cylinders
 Minimum damage to building due to handling of cylinders

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 Location and space
 Ground floor in rear part
 Near maintenance area
 Seperate enclosure for full cylinders, empty cylinders,
compressed air, vacuum supply
 No fire hazard
 Compresor unit in sound proof area
 Liquid oxygen area shall be cordoned off

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 Thank You

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