Oxygen mask

Oxygen mask
A mask that covers the mouth and nose, and is hooked up to an oxygen tank. It delivers oxygen directly to the patient. Oxygen can also be delivered directly through a nasal catheter, a tube that divides into two smaller tubes that go into the nostrils. Oxygen is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that makes up about 20 percent of the air we breathe (and at least half the weight of the entire solid crust of the earth) and which combines with most of the other elements to form oxides. Oxygen is essential to human, animal and plant life. The chemical symbol for the element oxygen is O. As a medicinal gas, oxygen contains not less than 99.0% by volume of O2. Oxygen was discovered in 1774 by the British scientist Joseph Priestly but he did not name it "oxygen." He called it dephlogisticated air. (Priestly discovered three other chemical compounds, one of which, nitrous oxide - "laughing gas" - is still used today as a mild anesthetic agent, as during dental procedures.) The word "oxygen" came from the French "oxygene." It was so named by the French scientist Antoine Lavoisier (1743-94) who thought it was a necessary ingredient in all acids. This is not so. Hydrochloric acid (HCl), for example, contains no oxygen.

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oxygen mask n a device worn over the nose and mouth through which oxygen is supplied from a storage tank

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • oxygen mask — oxygen masks N COUNT An oxygen mask is a device that is connected to a cylinder of oxygen by means of a tube. It is placed over the nose and mouth of someone who is having difficulty in breathing in order to help them breath more easily …   English dictionary

  • oxygen mask — n a piece of equipment that fits over someone s mouth and nose to provide them with oxygen …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • oxygen mask — oxygen ,mask noun count an object that fits over your face and is connected to a container of oxygen, used for helping you breathe normally …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Oxygen mask — A plastic oxygen mask on an ER patient. An oxygen mask provides a method to transfer breathing oxygen gas from a storage tank to the lungs. Oxygen masks may cover the nose and mouth (oral nasal mask) or the entire face (full face mask). They may… …   Wikipedia

  • oxygen mask — noun a breathing device that is placed over the mouth and nose; supplies oxygen from an attached storage tank • Hypernyms: ↑breathing device, ↑breathing apparatus, ↑breathing machine, ↑ventilator • Part Holonyms: ↑aqualung, ↑Aqua Lung, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • oxygen mask — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms oxygen mask : singular oxygen mask plural oxygen masks an object that fits over your face and is connected to a container of oxygen, used for helping you to breathe normally …   English dictionary

  • oxygen mask — A mask that covers the mouth, nose, and lower face. It is used in inhaling oxygen from a tank or a bottle or through the oxygen supply system of an aircraft and in allowing the expired gas to escape. See oronsol oxygen mask …   Aviation dictionary

  • oxygen mask — mask placed over the nose and mouth through which oxygen is supplied …   English contemporary dictionary

  • oxygen mask — noun a mask placed over the nose and mouth and connected to a supply of oxygen, used when the body is not able to gain enough oxygen by breathing air …   English new terms dictionary

  • oxygen mask — noun A plastic or rubber mask through which oxygen may be breathed from a storage tank …   Wiktionary

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