Ensure your patient is safe. If the hose is stuck, get a team member to bag the patient while you attend to the ventilator.
Hold the oxygen hose in your non-dominant hand. Attempt to rotate the white handwheel clockwise to release the hose.
If this fails, try depressurising the cylinder. (Air Liquide CD cylinders are pressurised to 300 bar, compared with 230 bar for BOC cylinders – 30% higher). Switch off the oxygen regulator on the cylinder first. Open the oxygen outlet on the top of the cylinder to let the residual oxygen out. Repeat step 2.
If the hose still hasn’t released, take the oxygen hose in your non-dominant hand. Push it in towards the cylinder and gently rotate anti-clockwise. At the same time rotate the handwheel clockwise.
Hopefully the hose will now release. Please fill in a Datix form so that we can monitor the issue.
