Facts about oxygen

 

Time to go back to another popular post from a few years ago where we talk about facts. Facts of oxygen...

Oxygen surrounds us and is fundamental for life and yet we can take it for granted and not realise that it’s a lot more than just a component of the air.

  1. Our atmosphere today contains around 21 percent oxygen. About 300 million years ago oxygen levels reached 35 percent and insects were able to grow super-large- think  dragonflies with the wingspans of hawks.
  2. Oxygen does not actually burn as people think it does. However it does support the combustion of other substances and without a supply of oxygen, combustion ceases. If you  think about it, if oxygen itself actually burnt, simply striking a match would be enough to burn all of the oxygen in our planet’s atmosphere.
  3. Almost two-thirds of the weight of living things comes from oxygen, mainly because living  things contain a lot of water and 88.9 percent of water’s weight comes from oxygen.
  4. Oxygen (O2) is very unstable in our planet’s atmosphere as it is very reactive and must be constantly replenished by photosynthesis in green plants. Without plant life, our atmosphere   would contain almost no oxygen. If we discover any other planets with atmospheres rich in  oxygen, we will know that life is almost certainly present on these planets as significant  quantities of oxygen will only exist on planets when it is released by living things.
  5. The Northern (and Southern) Lights: The green and dark-red colours in the aurora Borealis (and Australis) are caused by oxygen atoms. Highly energetic electrons from the solar wind split oxygen molecules high in earth’s atmosphere into excited, high energy atoms. These atoms lose energy by emitting photons, producing awe-inspiring light shows. These usually occur in the polar regions because solar electrons will accelerate along our planet’s magnetic field lines until they hit the atmosphere in the polar regions.
  6. A common urban myth is that hyperventilation is caused by breathing in too much oxygen. When we hyperventilate, we breathe too quickly, and this can lead to symptoms such as headache, light-headedness, dizziness, chest pains, tingling, slurred speech, fainting and spasms. Hyperventilation actually causes us to get rid of too much carbon dioxide from our bodies. The trouble with this is that we need carbon dioxide in our blood to stop it from becoming too alkaline. When we hyperventilate, we lose too much carbon dioxide, which disturbs the balance of substances in our blood, causing its pH to increase; this causes the blood vessels leading to our brains to get narrower, slowing the blood flow and decreasing the amount of oxygen reaching vital organs, leading to the symptoms of hyperventilation.
  7. As a gas, oxygen is clear. However as a liquid, it’s pale blue. If you’ve ever wondered what  swimming in a pool of liquid oxygen would be like, the answer is very, very cold,(according to Carl Zorn of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility). Oxygen must get down to minus 297.3 F (minus 183.0 C) to liquefy, so frostbite would be a bit of a  problem.

References: http://www.chemicool.com/elements/oxygen-facts.html and http://www.livescience.com/28738-oxygen.html

 


Before you start packing - Follow our 5 steps...

Now we have previously mentioned our top 5 steps so here it is again. Summer has not ended just yet. There is always time to plan your next trip.

5 steps before traveling with medical oxygen

#1 Contact your doctor/GP to make sure it is safe for you to be traveling with your medical condition, You will not be able to bring your own oxygen on-board with you, so you will have to arrange your oxygen use for your flight.

#2 In advance call the airline and speak with the correct department to make your arrangement on board. The OxygenWorldwide team can help with this process if you provide your prescription with your enquiry.

#3 Make sure that you confirm that you meet the requirements of the carrier. Confirm with them that they can provide the flow of air you need and whether or not they will provide you with a nasal cannula or mask.

# 4 It is best 48 hours prior to departing on your travels it is best to confirm all of your arrangements by phone or email and make sure to go over all of the rules and regulations that the airlines give you. Typically, the airlines will direct you to a website with rules.

# 5 These same steps apply if you are traveling by train or cruise ship. If cruising, make sure to contact the company before purchasing tickets. Many cruise line operators do not allow oxygen tanks on board the ship.

For all you medical oxygen needs please contact Oxygen Worldwide today. Our team are open 24 hours, 7 days a week and also speak many languages.


Does No Prescription = No Travel?

Find out below the guidelines from our experts at OxygenWorldwide.

pharmacist with prescription

Before enquiring for your required medical oxygen, for some countries (please see list below) you are travelling to, it is essential to obtain from your GP or medical practitioner your oxygen prescription. This will enable the OxygenWorldwide team arranging your suitable oxygen to obtain a quote, without this it may delay securing oxygen supply for your specific holiday dates and location."Requested materials must match your prescribed oxygen therapy. In case the materials are not available at your destination OxygenWorldwide will propose alternative materials suitable to your oxygen therapy."

In some countries the OxygenWorldwide team will need your prescription and this is what will be ordered and supplied at your destination. If the equipment required is very specific there is a chance that this may not be able to be supplied. Attaching your prescription with your enquiry is the best, most efficient thing to do when planning your trip abroad with medical oxygen.

Below is a list of countries currently where you need to provide your medical prescription document:

  • France, Corsica, Monaco
  • USA & Canada
  • Ireland & United Kingdom
  • Indonesia
  • Malta 
  • Portugal 
  • Ibiza 
  • Cruises in Spain
  • Norway
  • Cyprus

*Countries are subject to time of published article. Please check with the team and always provide your prescription to ensure an efficient quote

If you are planning a trip with medical oxygen please do obtain your prescription and Contact our Team here.


Plan you oxygen travel

 

Planning is something we always recommend it is the first most important thing when going on holiday. Just as important as planning your accommodation, transport and things to do whilst away. Holidays bring so much joy, from meeting new people, visiting friends and family or simply some time out of our day to day lives. Those who need medical oxygen also have such a need. It may feel daunting planning a trip with the extra use of oxygen therapy but if you plan ahead and use the right experts there is no need to worry. You can enjoy the rest of planning. Whether you are planning short trips or long haul having your oxygen needs in place as far out as possible is a must. Wherever you decide to fly to and visit all you need is careful planning and Oxygen Worldwide.

For those who has just stumbled across our articles we hope they are helping with your plans; so here is a bit more about the team.

  • Oxygen Worldwide is a company under Dutch management established in 1993.
  • Oxygen Worldwide is based in Spain and operates internationally.
  • Our objective is to make travel for those who need oxygen as carefree as possible.
  • All Oxygen Worldwide employees are multilingual. Our customer service staff speaks four languages.
  • Oxygen Worldwide arranges oxygen delivery worldwide for oxygen users on holiday or staying abroad for a longer period of time, also in case of a tour through several countries.
  • Oxygen Worldwide arranges oxygen for individual users, insurance agencies, emergency centres and oxygen suppliers in your home country.
  • Oxygen Worldwide delivers liquid oxygen (LOX), cylinders and concentrators.
  • Oxygen Worldwide has an international network of oxygen suppliers and works with associates worldwide.

If you have any question or would like to speak with us do not hesitate to contact our team or leave a comment. We will hold your hand for the whole journey.

 


Websites Google doesn't show you...

Google is one of many search engines we all use on a daily basis when researching online. Google is very powerful and can "hide" other search systems or resources from its results. We just don't know the existence of most of them, and there are many that could be useful giving you a better library of information to choose from.

Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent resources online in the world who specialise in books, science, and interesting information.

Below is a list of websites for you to keep which you may not have come across of in your previous searches:

www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopaedia, monographies, magazines.

www.worldcat.org - Contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need to read.

https://link.springer.com - Access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, and research protocols.

www.bioline.org.br - A library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.

http://repec.org - Volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.

www.science.gov - An American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.

www.pdfdrive.com - The largest website for free download of books in PDF format. Claiming over 225 million names.

www.base-search.net - One of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free.

Let us know in the comments if this was useful - some great reading out there waiting to be discovered.


3 important things to send when arranging oxygen abroad

It is important to arrange your medical oxygen when traveling in advance. OxygenWorldwide provide oxygen across the globe daily for clients who need a supply of medical oxygen whilst away from home for business or pleasure. Here are our team's top 3 checklist when contacting us.

  1. Your name address need to be exact. Similar to when you book tickets the documentation needs to be delivered to the correct person and the exact location. It is important to make sure you send the spelling of your name and destination address exactly. This will avoid any incorrect deliveries and confusion at your destination.
  2. The oxygen usage is also vital to make sure that the litres needed per hour and per minute for medical reasons are correct.
  3. Lastly your local contact details are just as important. Please see our previous post here to understand in more detail.
filling out form online

If you are planning a vacation or travel to another country please do contact our specialist team who are able to help plan your medical oxygen supply whilst away. Our team deal with all languages and we have forms easily translated. Please see below some useful links:

sauerstoffweltweit.com  (Deutsch)

oxygene.services (Francais)

oxigeno.info (Español)

oxy.support (English)

Please see our website for full details and where we deliver to across the world.


Why is it so important to have a local contact person for oxygen delivery?

IMPORTANT: A local contact for you airbnb, hotel or villa reservation

OxygenWorldwide arranges the delivery of oxygen before you arrive and collects it again after you leave.

To achieve this we will always need a verifiable local contact person who can accept the materials on your behalf.

In the event that you do not have a local contact person because you made a booking through an online travel operator such as Airbnb or booking.com or alternative travel website and you have to let yourself in with a key or with a code, we can in only in some cases make a delivery on your arrival day or the day after.

The materials will then be collected before you leave.

Important: this last option is not available in all countries.

To enquire about medical oxygen delivery with our expert team please contact us here.


Looking after your lungs in the Summer

As the weather heats up it also turns up the dial of airborne allergies, hayfever and the warmer weather may cause any breathing problems to be more problematic during these summer months.

There are a few things you can plan ahead with so make these months much more bearable and healthier for you if you suffer from respiratory illnesses.

Here are our TOP 5:

1. Keep your body temperature cooler by sitting in the shade, wearing a hat or using a hand-held fan
2. Drink lots of cool water throughout the day to avoid dehydration
3. Check the pollen count and if extremely high you may decide to stay more indoors if you suffer really badly
4. Regular eating to maintain your fuel and energy levels
5. Taking a cooler shower or bath at home will help bring down your body temperature


Summer breathing

Summer is here and especially in the UK this year there seems to be an increase in pollen and airborne allergies this summer. The sun is certainly appearing this year but so are the sneezes, itchy eyes, runny noses and also with this comes breathing difficulties.

If you feel short of breathe, cough more than usual or have a tight sensation in your chest this is usually a sign of allergy asthma.

If you are experiencing any symptoms visit your local GP to get diagnosed to receive the correct treatment.

Some allergy sufferers may struggle to breathe and need supplemental oxygen to help maintain a normal daily routine and life abilities such as walking outside or climbing the stairs at home.

If you are suffering this summer more than usual then book an appointment at your local surgery who can best recommend and enjoy summer whilst it is here. Lighter evenings and warmer weather encourages more walking, better diets and mentally being outside is proven it really helps with wellness.

If you do require any medical oxygen to travel abroad then use the contact form on this blog for further details.


Medical oxygen and travel

aeroplane

Medical oxygen need is increasing across Europe and the world especially now with more respiratory problems since the pandemic. Whether travelling for pleasure or business these air travellers can have difficulty planning the trip. It has been common for travellers to not understand fully how to plan or for an airline to be slow in response.

Just remember:

  • Plan as far in advance as possibly
  • Contact your chosen airline to advise them of your requirements
  • When you book seats possibly try to be near the toilets and the aisle
  • You oxygen supplier at your destination is responsible for back ups and training
  • Make sure you leave enough time so the travel is not stressful or exhausting

OxygenWorldwide have been arranging medical oxygen for holiday for over 20 years so please feel free to discuss your requirements with the team here