Thread by @Rohanaissance

Are you buying an oxygen concentrator for someone with COVID? There's lots of misinformation and it's hard to weed out the right info under pressure.

Please amplify this crowdsourced info— it's verified. You could save a life!

Note: this is about O2 concentrators NOT cylinders.

1. Ensure the concentrator has high flow rate. 10L is great.

2. Buy the '90%±3%' concentration output, NOT '30-90±3%'. Very very important.

3. Do NOT buy Dedakj (not for COVID!) & Philips 3ltr (pretty useless). Go for Airsep or Philips 5L — both work.

4. Certification matters.

5. Concentrator shouldn't be less than 15kg–lightweight ones can't provide oxygen at the required flow rate for those with high dependency on oxygen.

6. If you're using US oxygen concentrators, they're only 110V. You will need a transformer to step it up to 230V.

7. Please please watch out for this: sellers can try to fool you with high prices by highlighting '5 ltr', '8 ltr', '10 ltr' flow rates. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. Ensure output of 90%(±3%) concentration of oxygen. This high percentage really is the need of the hour.

8. Lastly, concentrators that do not fulfil these conditions are less ideal for Covid cases. But, if there is no other option, other concentrators can still save lives by providing patients the necessary relief — so please purchase them if all else fails.

Take care everyone!❤️

6. Small correction: You'd need a step *down transformer to get the concentrator to work on 230V. Thanks so much @DograWanderer for pointing this out!

9. Final note on prices; this is important: do NOT assume that more expensive means better quality. Many cheap concentrators can be good and expensive ones can be rubbish. Refer to all the above notes and ensure they are met. Concentrators usually cost between Rs. 40K-90K.

10. LET ME STRESS THIS HEAVILY: My DMs are always open for questions. If ever in doubt about a specific model or anything, just message me with the details and I'm happy to help!

Yet again, take care and stay safe, my friends.

OKAY LAST TWEET, PROMISE.

I strongly appeal to those who aren't in emergencies to import concentrators.

Let's leave the local ones to those who need oxygen urgently. It's 5 days of waiting max.

Also, imports aren't that expensive (no tariffs anymore) & give you lots of choice!

One more important addition on *using* concentrators. H/t @Aparna for this really valuable note that I’m pasting verbatim:

“Only use distilled water in concentrators and clean tubes and chamber.

Secondly use in ventilated room because it uses air and throws out nitrogen.”