The O2 fail-safe automatically cuts off which gas lines if the O2 pressure falls below a safe threshold?

The O2 fail-safe automatically cuts off which gas lines if the O2 pressure falls below a safe threshold?

• A. N2O and air
• B. CO2
• C. Helium
• D. Argon

Answer: (A)

Oxygen fail-safe acts to prevent delivering a hypoxic gas mixture by monitoring the oxygen supply pressure. If O2 pressure drops below a safe level, the system automatically reduces or cuts off the flow of other gases that would further dilute the oxygen being delivered. The gases typically affected are nitrous oxide and, in many machines, air, because removing these diluent gases helps maintain a higher oxygen concentration in the patient’s mixture. Other gases like helium or argon aren’t standard parts of the typical anesthesia fresh gas supply, and carbon dioxide isn’t delivered as a separate inhalational line in this context, so they aren’t the gases the fail-safe targets.

Oxygen fail-safe acts to prevent delivering a hypoxic gas mixture by monitoring the oxygen supply pressure. If O2 pressure drops below a safe level, the system automatically reduces or cuts off the flow of other gases that would further dilute the oxygen being delivered. The gases typically affected are nitrous oxide and, in many machines, air, because removing these diluent gases helps maintain a higher oxygen concentration in the patient’s mixture.

Other gases like helium or argon aren’t standard parts of the typical anesthesia fresh gas supply, and carbon dioxide isn’t delivered as a separate inhalational line in this context, so they aren’t the gases the fail-safe targets.