Timothy wrote:
How dare MH charge £9 each?!
If you look at medical shops, it seems “big brand” ones are often at that kind of price, too. It takes a discounter to be interested to sell them for less :)
When I am back at the hospital on Tuesday I will check which company we get ours from. Tbh I have only seen one brand of oxygen cannula in all 10 or so different German hospitals I ever worked at or were a student at.
There seems to be conflicting advice. Can anyone tell me definitively of a cheap source that does work in the O2D2 and is available in the UK?
I am sure others will work if the tube internal diameter is roughly the same.
The obvious potential problems with a larger tube ID are
One approach is to use the MH tube length and just change the bit at the end, say the cannula plus 10cm of tubing. That would not completely address the hygiene issue, however.
When I fly with others, I like to give them a sealed and new cannula. So, that is why I throw them out. I once bought a whole box full for around 1-2 euro per cannula somewhere in Germany, but can’t remember anymore from where. They work fine with the O2D2 pulse regulator and I think it is more professional to offer someone else a clean and sealed cannula than one that is not sealed.
On my recent flight to Venice, Brian & I used two different cannulas.
I used the official Mountain High one; whereas he used one he had brought from home which had a far longer clear tubing.
At 17,000 feet, my oxygen level was reading consistently 97%; whereas his, at times, dropped to 84%.
I therefore think that the surmise that efficiency depends on “volume“ is the true one.
Because of Its narrower bore, and its ribbing, the volume of the Mountain High tube could well be substantially smaller than that of ordinary clear tubing.
If one was to use alternative tubing, and it was not too inconvenient, perhaps to shorten its length would compensate?
Was Brian a smoker? You would have to compare him using both the MH one and his own. I might have been lucky but I have never had any issues with the cannulas and use an oxygen meter to monitor saturation levels and found no issue. I have read somewhere that using O2 meters are not covering the full risks involved with flying relatively high in unpressurized cabins, but can’t remember the issues involved.
BTW the internally ribbed tube (pics posted in the other thread linked) was the cheap Amazon cannula. The MH ones were smooth bore.
I presume the ribs are added to prevent a kink completely blocking the flow.
What seems to missing, which we usually see in these discussions and I was hoping for, is “I bought these cannulas from here and they work”
