MEDICAL GASES AND ANAESTHESIA
(energy) is released when the N2 molecule is split into N2
and O2 O . Medclair
equipment is designed in such a way that additional energy is used to reduce the system’s energy consumption and give an even lower CO2
footprint.”
The installation at Hvidovre Hospital The £355,000 Medclair central nitrous oxide destruction system installed at Hvidovre Hospital includes a nitrous oxide manifold system, pipe installation, and outlets in 14 birthing rooms. There is anaesthetic gas scavenging equipment in all rooms, with gas evacuation pipework to one AGS pump, which removes nitrous oxide from all rooms to a single central nitrous oxide destruction unit that eliminates nitrous oxide to air. The plant has an expected lifetime of
over 10 years, over which it is expected to capture and destroy exhaled N2
O from
around 56,000 patients, at an approximate cost of £6 per patient. It is expected to destroy a volume of 2,000 kg of nitrous oxide per year, which – in terms of carbon footprint reduction – equates to removing almost 600 tons of CO2
.
Hvidovre Hospital’s Maternity Department supports the birth of around 7,000 babies every year, with an average of 19 babies born there each day. While securing sufficient access to 14 birthing rooms to install the pipework, gas outlets, and gas evacuation equipment associated with the Medclair system could have proven challenging, Dorte Dahl explains that in fact the installation of the entire system was easily managed. She said: “We
Jannik Jensen
Jannik Jensen is Global Product manager at Medclair. He qualified as an Intensive Care Nurse in 1998 from the Nursing School at the University Hospital of Copenhagen, and spent 10 years in intensive care nursing. He then embarked on a career in medical gas, leading the nitrous oxide programmes in Scandinavia for a global gas company for 13 years. He has represented Medclair since March 2021, working with healthcare systems around the world to reduce their carbon footprint from nitrous oxide use.
Olesya Nikonova
Olesya Nikonova is Research & Development manager at Medclair AB. She has a PhD in Chemistry from the Swedish Agricultural University Uppsala. She has experience in nanochemistry, as well as Sol-Gel technology of functional materials. She has represented Medclair AB since October 2021.
Dorte Dahl
Dorte Dahl is Head Midwife at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen. She qualified as a midwife in 2001, and has many years’ management experience, and was involved in the project, ‘Implementing Safe Births’. In 2017, she was nominated for ‘Manager of the Year’ by her team.
Hvidovre Hospital’s Maternity Department supports the birth of around 7,000 babies every year, with an average of 19 babies born there each day.
only had to close two birthing rooms at a time, and in some months, none at all. The installation is now complete in all 14 birthing rooms, and we are very excited about it.”
A first in Denmark Hvidovre Hospital is the first hospital to install the technology in Denmark. Dorte Dahl said: “Our climate is a concern to us all, and with the central destruction technology installed, both the staff and the women patients here can now use nitrous oxide with a clear conscience. The
project’s completion was a fantastic day for all involved – those funding the system, the Estates team, Maternity staff, local politicians, and industry partners, but most importantly the women.” The Medclair technology can either be supplied as a central nitrous oxide destruction unit serving a number of rooms connected to one unit (as at Hvidovre Hospital), or as a mobile unit ideal for smaller healthcare settings where no gas evacuating outlets are available. The central nitrous oxide destruction
technology generates constant readings on its performance, measuring the energy in kWh used to destroy the nitrous oxide, and the volume of the gas destroyed.
References 1 Erving HW (1933). The Discoverer of Anæsthesia: Dr. Horace Wells of Hartford. Yale J Biol Med 1933 May; 5(5):421-30.
2 Albrectsen C, Kiel M, Kappendrup L, Thomsen L et al. Lattergas som smertelindring ved fødsler. Dansk Obstetrisk DInitrogenoxid-ved-fødsler.pdf (
dasaim.dk)
3 Pearson F, Evans E. Nitrous oxide in maternity: what’s all the gassing about? Association of Anaesthetists. https://
tinyurl.com/573c5myf
4 Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service, NHSE/I, October 2020. https://
tinyurl.com/5n6z6466. Pages 31-35.
5 Lucas DN, Wong R, Kearsley R. ‘Cracking’ the environmental problem of nitrous oxide in obstetrics. Anaesthesia 2023 Mar; 78 (3): 288-293.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/36351439/
6 Ek M, Tjus K. Destruction of Medical N2
O in Sweden. Greenhouse Gases – Capturing, Utilization and Reduction. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, 2012. https://tinyurl. com/4mzt6e3k
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