The Stanley Johnson loophole and what this means for you…

homes in spain

You may have heard this in the UK press recently and wondering what this means? This loophole has been discovered for UK residents who own second homes. Many UK residents have holiday homes or second homes across Europe such as Spain, France and Italy. Lots of UK residents who have enjoyed their time split between being close to loved ones in the UK and also enjoying an extended holiday or summer months in warmer climates over the years.

The last 12 months has meant many have not been able to enjoy this as flights or travel was not permitted. Now the UK prepares to ease lockdown with its roadmap planned out there is a loophole for all those second home owners, but what is it?

All UK residents can travel to their second home if the reason is to prepare it for sale or rental reasons. This will come into force this week on step 1 of the latest roadmap allowing certain reasons to travel.

You may be wondering why it is called the ‘Stanley Johnson Loophole’ and it is connected to Boris Johnson’s father who travelled to his Greek villa to make it ‘COVID-proof’ which breached the guidelines at the time in summer 2020.

Below is what has been published that is an appropriate reason to travel to your second home:

– Visiting an estate agent
– Visiting a show home
– Viewing a property or several
– Preparing to move into a property
– If you need to travel for study
– If you are participating in an elite sport event

Currently travel from the UK carries a fine if rules are broken and although summer holidays for many now seems to not include getting on a plane to another country; will this loophole if still allowed mean for some they will be able to hop on a plane and get to their second home to prepare, buy or sell a property?

Top destinations for amazing Autumn Getaways

Autumn brings colour, seasons and change from the beach-filled tourism feel. After this summer seemed to come and go so fast and many of us not opting to go away, now is the perfect time to getaway before the end of the year. There is so much to explore, see and do even when travelling with medical oxygen.

Here is our top 10 European City Breaks:

  1. Prague
  2. Budapest
  3. Barcelona
  4. Vienna
  5. Malta
  6. Portugal
  7. Paris
  8. Berlin
  9. Copenhagen
  10. Dublin

Face masks & coverings – on or off?

Face coverings are becoming part of the everyday outfit now for most European citizens. Many have been advised to wear these face coverings to protect yourself and others. The UK has just announced that they must too wear a face covering when go into a shop or supermarket or they will be fined. There are several arguments for and against’on or off’,
what do you think?

Here are a few of the outlined arguments against:

  • Wearing a mask may inhibit breathing for those who already have respiratory problems
  • Dirty masks (as people may not wash them) can help spread more germs
  • It makes people feel invincible and therefore defeats the object

Here are a few of the outlined arguments for:

  • Protect yourself and others from catching anything infectious
  • Duty of care to health workers to keep safe at all times
  • China has already had wearing masks as a norm – even stylish that now it is selfish to not wear a mask especially if you feel ill, plus protects people from pollution

Let us know your opinion in the comments…

YES – You find it MORE SAFE to travel now nearly everybody has to wear a face mask or covering
NO – Although other people wear face masks or coverings, you may feel this puts you off and won’t travel as it does NOT make you feel safer than before.

I need oxygen for my holiday…

oxygen for holiday

You can still travel the world, even when you need medical oxygen too. If you need oxygen for your holiday here are some popular questions you may be wondering:

  1. Can you travel abroad with oxygen? If you need oxygen on your holiday, you will need to arrange oxygen at your destination before you travel. Contact OxygenWorldwide for quotes.
  2. Can I take oxygen on a plane? The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not allow travellers to carry their own oxygen aboard  aircraft. You are advised that a Department of Transportation approved battery-powered portable oxygen concentrator is ok to use.
  3. How much is a portable oxygen concentrator? Buying your own is expensive but to use whilst on holiday prices do vary but using experienced OyxgenWorlwide can obtain competitive quotes and have the knowledge of many locations across the globe.
  4. How do you travel abroad with oxygen? Contact the airline you are travelling with first, make sure you have your prescription and also any doctors notes to take with you. Prepare and plan your requirements needed for the duration of the trip. Use OxygenWorldwide as the 24 hours service whilst on your trip allows for that extra care needed when abroad and possibly not your native language.

How Do Different Devices Provide My Oxygen?

CPAP (1)
Oxygen therapy is administered in a variety of ways depending upon the circumstance, the patient’s requirements and the devices used. It is required in order to provide additional oxygen to the patient and to increase the level of oxygen in the body needed by your body to function.
In most cases the oxygen first passes through a pressure regulator which controls the oxygen pressure as it passes from an oxygen cylinder to the device which is at a lower pressure. Once the oxygen is at this lower pressure, the flow of the oxygen can be controlled by a flow-meter and is measured in litres of oxygen per minute (lpm). The usual flow rate for most devices is between 0 and 15 lpm but can be as high as 25 lpm in some units. Many flow-meters are based on a ‘Thorpe tube’ design which can be set to ‘flush’ which is useful in an emergency situation.
In room air the content of oxygen is only 21%, which although is adequate for healthy individuals, needs to be increased to help those with certain diseases or medical conditions in order to increase the oxygen that manages to get through to their blood stream. Usually increasing the oxygen to 30-35% is enough to make a significant difference and this can be achieved using a nasal cannula, a thin tube with an individual tube for each nostril. This can provide the oxygen at a low flow rate (0.25 to 6 lpm) to achieve an oxygen level of 24-40%.
To achieve higher oxygen concentrations various face masks can be used including a simple face mask, which can deliver oxygen at 5-15 lpm to achieve 28-50% oxygen levels. The Venturi mask can provide oxygen up to 40% and a partial re-breathing mask, which includes a reservoir bag attached to it can provide oxygen at between 40% and 70% concentration.
For patients requiring 100% oxygen the most common device is the non-breather or reservoir mask. This is similar to the re-breathing mask but has a number of valves to stop air that has been exhaled from the lungs from returning to the bag. At a flow rate of 10 lpm up to 80% oxygen levels can be achieved.
For patients requiring the therapy on a constant long-term basis, the oxygen can be warmed and humidified before administration through the nasal cannula to prevent irritation and dryness.
If a patient cannot breathe independently then positive pressure may be needed to force air into the lungs, which is provided by complex artificial respirator machines such as ventilators or a continuous positive airway pressure machine.
References: and

Interesting facts about oxygen

Oxygen surrounds us and is fundamental for life and yet we can take it for granted and not realise that it’s a lot more than just a component of the air.

  1. Our atmosphere today contains around 21 percent oxygen. About 300 million years ago oxygen levels reached 35 percent and insects were able to grow super-large- think  dragonflies with the wingspans of hawks.
  1. Oxygen does not actually burn as people think it does. However it does support the combustion of other substances and without a supply of oxygen, combustion ceases. If you  think about it, if oxygen itself actually burnt, simply striking a match would be enough to burn all of the oxygen in our planet’s atmosphere.
  1. Almost two-thirds of the weight of living things comes from oxygen, mainly because living  things contain a lot of water and 88.9 percent of water’s weight comes from oxygen.
  1. Oxygen (O2) is very unstable in our planet’s atmosphere as it is very reactive and must be constantly replenished by photosynthesis in green plants. Without plant life, our atmosphere   would contain almost no oxygen. If we discover any other planets with atmospheres rich in  oxygen, we will know that life is almost certainly present on these planets as significant  quantities of oxygen will only exist on planets when it is released by living things.
  1. The Northern (and Southern) Lights: The green and dark-red colours in the aurora Borealis (and Australis) are caused by oxygen atoms. Highly energetic electrons from the solar wind split oxygen molecules high in earth’s atmosphere into excited, high energy atoms. These atoms lose energy by emitting photons, producing awe-inspiring light shows. These usually occur in the polar regions because solar electrons will accelerate along our planet’s magnetic field lines until they hit the atmosphere in the polar regions.
  1. A common urban myth is that hyperventilation is caused by breathing in too much oxygen. When we hyperventilate, we breathe too quickly, and this can lead to symptoms such as headache, light-headedness, dizziness, chest pains, tingling, slurred speech, fainting and spasms. Hyperventilation actually causes us to get rid of too much carbon dioxide from our bodies. The trouble with this is that we need carbon dioxide in our blood to stop it from becoming too alkaline. When we hyperventilate, we lose too much carbon dioxide, which disturbs the balance of substances in our blood, causing its pH to increase; this causes the blood vessels leading to our brains to get narrower, slowing the blood flow and decreasing the amount of oxygen reaching vital organs, leading to the symptoms of hyperventilation.
  1. As a gas, oxygen is clear. However as a liquid, it’s pale blue. If you’ve ever wondered what  swimming in a pool of liquid oxygen would be like, the answer is very, very cold,(according to Carl Zorn of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility). Oxygen must get down to minus 297.3 F (minus 183.0 C) to liquefy, so frostbite would be a bit of a  problem.

References: and

An inadequate supply of oxygen contributed to cause of death

During an asthma attack, the smooth muscles of the bronchi contract, causing them to narrow, and the tissues lining the airways swell due to inflammation and mucus secretion into the airways. The top layer of the airway lining can become damaged and shed cells, further narrowing the diameter of the airway. A narrower airway requires the person to exert more effort to move the same amount of air in and out of the lungs. In asthma, the narrowing is reversible, meaning that with appropriate treatment or on their own, the muscular contractions of the airways stop, and the inflammation resolves so that the airways widen again, and the airflow into and out of the lungs returns to normal.
The airways narrow in response to stimuli that usually do not affect the airways in normal lungs (triggers). Such triggers include:
Exercise, stress, and anxiety
Many inhaled allergens can trigger an asthma attack, including pollens, particles from dust mites, body secretions from cockroaches, particles from feathers, and animal dander. These allergens combine with immunoglobulin E (IgE, a type of antibody) on the surface of mast cells to trigger the release of asthma-causing chemicals from these cells. (This type of asthma is called allergic asthma.) Although food allergies induce asthma only rarely, certain foods (such as shellfish and peanuts) can induce severe attacks in people who are sensitive to these foods.
Infectious triggers are usually viral respiratory infections, such as colds, bronchitis, and sometimes pneumonia.
Irritants that can provoke an asthma attack include smoke from tobacco, marijuana products, or cocaine, fumes (such as from perfumes, cleaning products, air pollution), cold air, and stomach acid in the airways caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Additionally, people who have asthma can develop bronchoconstriction when exercising. Stress and anxiety can trigger mast cells to release histamine and leukotrienes and stimulate the vagus nerve (which connects to the airway smooth muscle), which then contracts and narrows the bronchi.
Asthma attacks can vary in frequency and severity. Some people are symptom-free most of the time, with only an occasional, brief, mild episode. Other people cough and wheeze most of the time and have more frequent and severe attacks.
During an asthma attack, shortness of breath may become severe, creating a feeling of severe anxiety. The person instinctively sits upright and leans forward, using the neck and chest muscles to help in breathing, but still struggles for air. Sweating is a common reaction to the effort and anxiety. The pulse usually quickens, and the person may feel a pounding in the chest.
In a very severe asthma attack, a person is able to say only a few words without stopping to take a breath. Wheezing may diminish, however, because hardly any air is moving in and out of the lungs. Confusion, lethargy, and a blue skin color are signs that the person’s oxygen supply is severely limited, and emergency treatment is needed. Usually, a person recovers completely with appropriate treatment, even from a severe asthma attack. Rarely, some people develop attacks so quickly that they may lose consciousness before they can give themselves effective therapy. Such people should wear a medical alert bracelet and carry a cellular phone to call for emergency medical assistance. Research suggests a strong link between stress and asthmatic symptoms and experts suggest better treatment, including confident, self management of the condition, could improve the quality of life for asthmatics. The close links between stress and asthma are clear given the potential consequences of untreated attacks.
People who have severe symptoms should typically go to an emergency department. For severe attacks, doctors give frequent (or sometimes continuous) treatment using inhaled beta-adrenergic drugs and sometimes anticholinergic drugs. Supplemental oxygen is also given immediately so as to increase the percentage level of oxygen being breathed in to help raise oxygen levels in the blood.
Part two to be continued….

Five reasons why travelling is easy with oxygen

1. Portable oxygen concentrators…
inogen_one_g3 inogen_one_g2 lifechoice_activox freestyle
2. Oxygenworldwide has a huge network on a worldwide scale
3. OxygenWorldwide has a team of experts on hand prior to travel and during your holiday (SOS)
4. There are a wide selection of equipment types suitable for most oxygen patients
5. OxygenWorldwide have a multilingual team of staff

Oxygen and Travel – we have it covered




Some tips for air travel with POC’s:


·         Allow plenty of extra time for check-in.


·         POC’s and battery packs can be rented.


·         POC’s are exempt from the carry-on allowance.

·         Carry a prescription for oxygen, signed by your doctor.

For more information about oxygen supply whilst on holiday please enquire now at and register for our SOS back up service.

health warning in UK for air pollution

The government has issued health warnings due to high levels of air pollution spreading across England this week.
The pollution is a mix of local and European emissions and dust from the Sahara desert, and is affecting parts of southern England, the Midlands and East Anglia.
The elderly and those with lung or heart disease are urged to avoid strenuous exercise outside.
British Lung Foundation honorary medical adviser Dr Keith Prowse spoke today about the implications of high levels of pollution for people with lung disease.

“Air pollution can have the greatest impact on people with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma, worsening symptoms such as coughing and breathlessness. The dust from the Sahara that we are seeing at the moment are worsening many local air pollution levels.
“People who use a reliever inhaler should make sure that they carry it with them. If they feel that their conditions are worsening then they should contact their GPs.”
This is supposed to only last a few days but was high risk for people with asthma and other respiratory conditions.