OXYGEN TENT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20483, 8 December 1934, Page 13

OXYGEN TENT.

Modern Invention to Save Life. USE IN NEW ZEALAND. EFFECTIVE AGAINST PNEUMONIA. (Special to the ** Star.”) WELLINGTON. This Day. Not all the advances of science are so technical as to baffle the intelligence of the man in the street. A very modern piece of medical apparatus, the oxygen tent, is so simple that it makes one wonder why it was not thought of before. Oxygen has long been used to assist the recovery o( patients suffering from pneumonia and other lung troubles, the reviving gas being wastefully blown in a stream on to the patient’s face or uncomfortably forced up his nose through a tube. Now comes the oxygen tent, by means of which the gas is applied comfortably, efficiently and economic r ally. ' „ , , A recent message from England stated that the life of an eighteen-months-old boy who had accidentally swallowed some boiling water had been saved bv keeping him in the oxygen tent, which was an American invention. Only three such tents existed in England. Used in New Plymouth. From New Plymouth the “ Post ’ received a special message to-day which stated that two lives had been saved by the use of oxygen beds in that town. Dr Taylor heard of the apparatus and had an oxygen bed manufactured in the New Plymouth Hospital workshop at the modest cost of a few pounds, though the apparatus advertised in America cost £IOO. Two children at death’s door with throat and bronchial trouble following whooping cough have been brought back to health. * The apparatus is a tent-shaped airangement which is fitted over an ordinary bed (says the message). The tent, or box, is open at the top and is connected with the oxygen supply, which is pumped in a steady stream through pipes to the bottom of the enclosed space and, being heavier than air, it circulates round the patient s face. Remarkable success is claimed for the treatment, which brings quick relief and prevents the struggle for life which is so exhausting to patient and nurses. Wellington was earlier in the field than New Plymouth, for it has had an oxvgen tent for the last six months at least, although it has not yet been found necessary to use it. The apparatus was shown to a “ Post ” reporter by the doctor for whom it was made, and by a representative of dealers in medical equipment who constructed the oxygen tent in Wellington to the doctor's specifications. From the description contained in the telegram it appears that the Wellington apparatus is sreatly superior to that in use in New Plymouth. . . Apparatus Explained.

Wellington’s oxygen tent consists of a large cylindrical hood, suspended from a mobile stand. The top half of the hood is of mica, affording a clear view both to and of the patient, whose head and upper part it envelops. The lower half is of canvas, which is securely tucked in around the patient s waist as he sits up in bed. The patient’s breath, rising from his mouth, is extracted by an electric pump through a vent pipe in the top of the hood, and is forced through a pipe jacketed with ice. The sudden cooling of the breath causes a condensation of the breath’s moisture, which is trapped and runs away. Continuing on its way, the dried breath goes through a container packed with granulated pumice kept saturated with caustic potash. This has the effect of absorbing the carbon dioxide and making the breath fit for use again. Just before it is injected back into the tent it is supplemented by a stream of oxygen in the right proportion for the particular patient. The injected oxygen and air come into the tent through a downpipe which opens at the very bottom, so that the oxygen is forced upwards and helps to displace the breathed-out air, which rises to the vent-pipe in the top. Lower Cost Locally.

Briefly, the patient’s breath is cooled, dried, purified, and reinforced with a goodly proportion of oxygen before being returned to him. The principle of the apparatus is the same as that used overseas, but the cost here, as in New Plymouth, is comparatively trifling. One may ask why the patients breath is not discharged into the air and fresh air added to the injected oxygen. The answer is that even fresh air would have to be cooled and dried, so that actually the apparatus is simplified by the continual use of the patient’s own breath, as it leaves the purifier is really better than

air. The doctor explained that the drying of the air was most important, for the breath as expired contained a quantity of moisture which became deposited on the inside of the tent if not removed. A patient can remain in a dry tent indefinitely, though the usual practice is to put him in the tent for a period of up to two hours, by which time his condition improves so much that he can do without oxygen. Further applications of the oxygen are given as the patient needs it. said the doctor. It was only recently that America had introduced the apparatus. The doctor gained his experience of it in that country, but did not see it in England. lie described the tent made for him in Wellington as exactly the same in principle as those used in the §tates, and he thought it was a little better.

The tent is so simple, inexpensive and effective that its wide use by hospitals seems certain.