Month: March 2023

National No Smoking Day

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National No Smoking Day is an annual awareness day that serves as a campaign for greater awareness about the health dangers associated with smoking1. Bedfont® Scientific Ltd. has been helping people stop smoking for over 35 years with their Smokerlyzer® product range, which gives users instant Carbon Monoxide (CO) readings using a motivational traffic light system to guide them towards their quit goal.

Reports from NHS Stop Smoking Services in England between April 2021 and March 2022 have shown that of 178,198 adults setting a quit date, 54.8% were successful (97,654). And of those successfully quitting, 6.8% (6,640) had their results confirmed with a CO verification2. It’s never too late for patients to benefit from stopping smoking, as being a non-smoker or at least reducing the use of cigarettes, can improve the chances of being more physically active and healthier as we get older3.

Out of the over 8 million global deaths related to tobacco each year, over 7 million of those deaths are from direct tobacco use, while 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke4. Establishing a patient’s smoking status is a great way in providing them with helpful analysis and guidance throughout their stop smoking journey.

Studies have shown the attitudes that smokers have towards quitting smoking when using a handheld CO monitoring device. One study noted that out of 15.5% of people that were planning on quitting in the next 30 days, 75.3% reported the CO device increased their motivation, with 73.1% reported that seeing their CO levels made them want to quit smoking. Furthermore, after 12 weeks, the number of cigarettes smoked per day decreased by 41.4%5.

The Smokerlyzer® range by Bedfont® consists of 4 handheld breath analysis monitors, Micro+™, piCObaby™, piCO™, and iCOquit® – each of which tests the level of CO in a smoker’s blood. High levels of CO in the blood can lead to smoking related diseases such as heart disease, circulation problems and high blood pressure. The onscreen instant results for each monitor, coinciding with the interpretation guide provided, makes understanding results easy and convenient when acknowledging which traffic light system bracket a patient falls underneath.

Visit https://www.bedfont.com/smokerlyzer to learn more about how you can aid patients to stop smoking, one breath at a time, with the Smokerlyzer® range.

References:

  1. Twinkl.co.uk. [cited 2023Feb2]. Available from: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/event/no-smoking-day-2023
  2. Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England- April 2021 to March 2022 [Internet]. NHS. 2022. [Cited 20th February 2023]. Available from: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-nhs-stop-smoking-services-in-england/april-2021-to-march-2022
  3. Smoking [Internet]. BHF. [cited 2023Feb2]. Available from: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/smoking
  4. Tobacco [Internet]. World Health Organisation. 2022. [Cited 10th February 2023]. Available from: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
  5. Marler JD, Fujii CA, Wong KS, Galanko JA, Balbierz DJ, and Utley DS. Assessment of a personal interactive carbon monoxide breath sensor in people who smoke cigarettes: single-arm cohort study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020;22(10):1-24. DOI: 10.2196/22811.

The Medi-gas Check range ensures that medical pipeline testing is undertaken safely and strictly

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Many types of medical gas are used every day, in hospitals, dentists, vets, and vets; with healthcare workers and patients alike at risk of being exposed, medical gas safety is paramount.

Despite strictest legislation, medical gas exposure can occur and regrettably, this was the case for staff at a maternity unit in Basildon Hospital, who were said to have been exposed to 30 times the workplace legal exposure limit for Nitrous Oxide.

The gas leak was reported after routine checks and luckily, no mortalities have been reported.

Bedfont Scientific Ltd., a medical device and gas monitor manufacturer, based in Kent, was established in 1976 because of a tragic medical gas error, whereby a patient at a London hospital was administered N2O instead of O2. Bedfont invented the TM3 Gas differentiator – a simple device which could differentiate the two gases and ensure there were no cross-connections. Since then, Bedfont has developed a wide range of portable pipeline testing devices that conform fully with the requirements of UK Government Guidance in the form of the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 02-01 and other relevant legislation.

Jason Smith, Managing Director at Bedfont Scientific Ltd., stresses, “This incident highlights the incessant need to continuously monitor medical gases, it is lucky that there were no fatalities with this case. There are exposure limits and legal standards for a reason; quite bluntly, if anything were to go wrong with medical gas, it is a matter of life or death.”

“Safety practices in the medical gas sector are the reason Bedfont exist; we strive to have the one-stop-shop for all medical pipeline testing needs so that all safety and technical procedures concerning the verification and validation of piped medical gas can be undertaken safely and in accordance with the strictest legislation. The Medi-gas Check range not only verifies the quality and quantity of gas in medical pipelines and administration points, but specific monitors in the range act also as a personal, portable alarm, providing the user with time weighted exposure to makes sure there are no leakages.”

For more information on the Medi-Gas range, please visit https://www.bedfont.com/medigas.