A Day in the Life of an Oxygen Volunteer
Robert Hall, Oxygen Volunteer
It’s Thursday and I am the person you can see sitting in front of a computer screen in the new annex with a cup of tea and biscuits, what on earth do I do for 7 hours between 8.15 and 3.15 in the afternoon?
But first, why am I here? I first came across the Samson Centre when I started an adaptive rowing (rowing for people with disabilities) section at Guildford Rowing Club. My first member Claire had MS and was a long term member at the Samson Centre. Since Claire we have had many people from the Samson Centre joining us to row on Friday mornings. Initially I came to the Samson Centre to run indoor rowing sessions in the gym. But then my own daughter Rachel was diagnosed with MS and I decided to drop some other volunteering roles and focus on oxygen therapy. Another motivating factor was that I had worked for British Oxygen for over 30 years.
Its 8.15, I arrive outside the new annex, undo the four locks that guard the annex and activate the doors with my electronic security pass. Its COVID time so I enter with my own mask before changing it to a fresh Samson Centre one. Once inside, the first job is to activate the computer and screens to give it time to warm up. It’s a bit temperamental if you try to fire up the spreadsheets too quickly. Then it’s out to the rear of the building to open the main oxygen supply valves and check on system pressures and the amount of gas in the oxygen tanks. Then it’s back to the computer to complete the start-up checklist, open the diary for the day, the data tracking spreadsheet, and our client’s records.
By this time the second volunteer for the day has arrived and we open the doors for our first clients, get the two single chambers ready for 8.45 and get them in the chamber, masks securely on and take them up to pressure making sure we have checked if they have any ear problems. Two or three clients then arrive for the multi chamber which we prepare and start getting them up to pressure. The multi chamber takes some time to come up to pressure so while one of us watches the dials and adjusts the flows, the other has time to make the first cup of tea or coffee for the day. It’s critical here that we keep Paul happy in his fundraising lair behind us and offer him a cup as well!
The first rush over, we have the best part of an hour, only having to keep an eye on the oxygen levels in the chambers which we record at 15-minute intervals. If a client has a leaking mask, oxygen levels can exceed 25% in the chamber at which point we have to juggle the flow of compressed air in and out of the chamber until oxygen levels are reduced. Male clients with beards are the most likely to require this attention. Typically, we will have to do this flush through two or three times in a day.
We will repeat this cycle throughout the day, four times for the single chambers and three for the multi chamber. After each cycle we disinfect the chambers, change the hoses which are soaked and cleaned before they go onto the drying rack.
As the day goes by and we get in a rhythm and the time between treatments seems to lengthen, more tea and if we have caught up with all each other’s news, it’s time for other distractions. The internet helps here, if it’s my regular partner Derek, popular pastimes are fantasy car buying (Bentley convertible anyone?) or You Tube videos of 70s rock bands. Soon its 3pm and the last clients leave. All we have to do now is switch of all the valves, O2 monitors, computers etc. and clean down the equipment to leave the Centre in pristine condition for the volunteers the following day and lock up.
Then it’s home for a well-earned cup of tea.