50% or 80% O2 for first aid?

[Web Monkey]

There's another thread on the board about a dive boat that had a brand new empty DAN O2 kit.

If someone had a deco bottle of 50% or 80% on the boat, would that be significantly better than nothing if O2 wasn't available?

Terry

 

[headsqueeze]

yes, it's better than ambient air.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Another yes. Even 32% would be better.

 

[wedivebc]

I once worked on a charter boat. A diver surfaced with a headache and wanted O2 so after she emtied the e cylinder of O2 all I had left was some 50%. I offered her that but she declined because she wasn't nitrox ceritified.

 

[TSandM]

Anything with an elevated ppO2 is useful; 80% would be almost as good as pure O2.

 

[mislav]

I once worked on a charter boat. A diver surfaced with a headache and wanted O2 so after she emtied the e cylinder of O2 all I had left was some 50%. I offered her that but she declined because she wasn't nitrox ceritified.

LOL! That's ridiculous, but just goes to show how difficult it can be to help to some people in the real world.

And yes, I joiin others in saying that any gas mix with the reduced percentage of Nitrogen is of help in a situation when you have excess Nitrogen in your body.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Anything with an elevated ppO2 is useful; 80% would be almost as good as pure O2.

I agree... anything above 21% would be an improvement.

Even for deco purposes 80% is almost equalivent to O2. (IANTD use to consider anything over 75% the same as O2 for deco.) Last year, after a 200ft cave dive followed by several other dives, I discovered that my O2 bottle had been filled with 60% O2 and 5% Helium. There were no ill effect even though the dive was planned with 100% for deco. I'm not saying you could get away with that every time, but I was really surprised.

 

[crpntr133]

I've seen several divers use their nitrox on the boat. It wasn't an emergency but rather a precaution.

 

[Blackwood]

I once worked on a charter boat. A diver surfaced with a headache and wanted O2 so after she emtied the e cylinder of O2 all I had left was some 50%. I offered her that but she declined because she wasn't nitrox ceritified.

lol, good times. I guess she was ox certified.

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

I once worked on a charter boat. A diver surfaced with a headache and wanted O2 so after she emptied the e cylinder of O2 all I had left was some 50%. I offered her that but she declined because she wasn't nitrox certified.

Now that I'm back in my chair...In the Paramedic world we call people like that Oxygen Thieves or TSTL's (too stupid to live)