This evolution is being demanded of the plumbing and the health care industries by forces that apply to both industries: patient and doctor insistence on technically superior products and services, new codes and standards, and serious economics.
The centrally-piped medical gas system is one of the newer types of hospital plumbing systems to be introduced into the delivery of direct patient care. Gas piping is needed for oxygen, nitrous oxide, medical air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, vacuum and anesthesia waste exhaust. Piping gas from a central location directly to outlets at the points of patient use provides a level of safety unheard of in the past. The direct piping method removes obsolete, bulky and dangerous pressurized cylinders from the patient's bedside. Also, these piped systems provide easier quality control and pressure regulation because all gases are delivered from centralized pumps, compressors or cylinder manifold systems. The piping is designed and installed under strict National Fire Protection Association regulations (NFPA 99).