* EC: Clarifications and Expectations: Maintaining Medical Gas Safety Clarifying storage requirements for freestanding medical gas cylinders[®] [REF: EOC] EC News, February 2014, Vol 17, #2, Pg 5  JCe14102_B6

EC.02.06.01, EP1 requires segregation of full and empty medical gas cylinders.  This article reports on the recent clarification of the terms segregation and empty.  Here are the bottom lines:

• Segregation means physically separated (e.g., separate racks and/or with physical barriers between)
• Empty, for storage purposes, means any cylinder that has been opened, even if it has some content remaining.  Although that content can still be used, the cylinder must be segregated/not stored with those that are full (e.g., separate rack for partial cylinders).

Surveyors will be looking to see a physical separation of full and empty cylinders as well as clear labeling. 

Tip: Ensure compliance by establishing separate, color-coded storage racks for full, partial and empty gas cylinders.  Look for this separation in mock EOC tracers.