I was referring to pipeline gases where the outlets are on the wall or hanging from the ceiling. Portable cylinders, that's another story. The connections are the same on the bottles. That said, there is a distinct difference in colours on the bottles that are pretty hard to miss. Like the pipeline outlets, they are coloured the same way. People need to be more diligent when checking because I saw an oxygen bottle get connected to a device that is meant to have CO2, which could have had catastrophic consequences for everyone.
There should be a SOP stating that all portable cylinders be checked by 2 people, same as drugs, but sadly, there's not. Although anyone worth their salt should be able to tell the difference between a white cylinder and a blue one, or a green one, or a black and white one. There is no excuse for mixing up cylinders.
Given that there was nitrous involved, I'd say it was a pipeline job because portable nitrous cylinders aren't routinely stored (they get nicked!). If you want one, you have to special order it.
I'll be interested to hear the outcome of the investigation (and try and avoid the trial by media which is inevitable. How many have called for heads to roll?)
Edit. In regards to portable bottles, they have portable bottles on baby rescus trolleys, as well as it being hooked up the pipeline. The portables are a back up or they need to transport the sick baby to a different room. Even through the connections are the same on the portable bottles, the hoses running from the bottle to the machine are colour coded. So again, no excuse. There is NEVER any portable nitrous bottles on a baby trolley.
