Emergency O2 in Minnesota

[aviator8]

I understand, but at first blush, it seems like you are against using pue O2.

Not so. Personally I don't do any deco but pure O2 is the goto for emergency treatment, and blends over 40% have a multitude of uses for tech diving. I am fine staying in the Nitrox up to 40 but I always make sure O2 is nearby if I am diving.

 

[lowviz]

but I always make sure O2 is nearby if I am diving.

We agree.

 

[aviator8]

So somewhat funny story regarding O2. I was looking for some tanks last year, and found a deal on a HP steel 80 for my daughter. At $50, it only had its original hydro and one VIP. It was stored under pressure. So I took the drive about an hour away to get it.

I had just finished reading Oxygen Hacker so all that was fresh in my head. I brought my O2 analyzer with me and asked if I could check it. It had a fill from 1993. I figured it should read 20.9, if it was lower than that it would indicate moisture in the tank and rust had consumed Oxygen. It read exactly 20.9 so I pulled out my money to pay. The tank's last VIP was in Guam and this was in rural Georgia.

I asked how he ended up with a tank like this way out in farm country. He said he got it to aerate a bait tank for fishing. I said something like, wow this tank is way overkill for that. He said he was selling because he got a cylinder of 100% O2 to do it. I asked about it, and it was a pretty large medical cylinder. I told him he should be very very careful using 100% O2 for that as it can cause materials it comes in contact with to combust if not treated correctly. He looked at me weird, like I had horns on my head, and just said " I know not to smoke around it" I said thanks for the tank and went home.

 

[fxb]

I just saw this on DRIS. It appears to not contain a pressurized cylinder so you could probably have it shipped ready to use. No idea how it works or what the quality is like, but I thought I would pass it along since it seems relevant to this thread. Claims to provide 15 minutes of oxygen which is less than an M9 but certainly better than nothing. I would also guess that's it's going to be "good enough" for most emergency situations within the US. At least here in Texas, our training quarry is fairly remote but still, drills with local EMS take them 10 minutes or less to arrive on site.

Emergency Oxygen In A Box

Edit: I would advise also checking to see if in Minnesota you can administer emergency oxygen without specifically having taken an emergency O2 provider class. I know that not all states permit administration of emergency oxygen without specific training but I couldn't tell you which ones those are.

 

[SleepySlipper]

@2airishuman I don’t want to come off as rude through text, I went to several shops within an hour of the metro. They will all take your medical cylinders for a fill, seems you just have to approach the right people and do a bit of talking story.

 

[tbone1004]

@fxb that probably uses the same chemical reaction that is used in emergency O2 on commercial airplanes. At $400, you'd be better off taking the AN course and getting a scuba tank filled since those packs are disposable.

 

[mmerriman]

these come filled. replacement tanks available. shop around for best price. LIFE OxygenPac Emergency Oxygen - LIFE Corporation LIFE-612 | Vitality Medical

 

[michael-fisch]

20 cuft of O2 in the OxygenPac really isn 't a lot of O2. If I were you I'd get an AL40 filled to 3000PSI with O2, a nose clamp and a standard scuba regulator cleaned for O2 use. Using the standard medical O2 reg that delivers a max of 15LPM of O2 is almost as bad as doing nothing when the object is delivering PURE O2 to a diver suffering from DCS.

Michael

 

[fxb]

20 cuft of O2 in the OxygenPac really isn 't a lot of O2. If I were you I'd get an AL40 filled to 3000PSI with O2, a nose clamp and a standard scuba regulator cleaned for O2 use. Using the standard medical O2 reg that delivers a max of 15LPM of O2 is almost as bad as doing nothing when the object is delivering PURE O2 to a diver suffering from DCS.

Michael

Sorry, I can not advise doing this. Now, reading my other posts in this thread I worry I may have come across as too “standards and rules obsessed” which was not my intention. Sure, if you get out of the water and recognize you have DCS symptoms, and you have a AL40 of 100% O2 handy, am I recommending you say “Ah better not, needs to be in a medical cylinder and regulator”? Absolutely not!

Please just keep in mind that a demand valve like you get with DAN cylinders (and what Scuba second stages are) only work on conscious people and only if they are capable of breathing strongly enough to hit the crack pressure on the valve. A deco bottle of oxygen is useless on unconscious people (don’t even think about sticking the reg in their mouth and holding the purge button). I would not consider having a scuba cylinder and regulator with pure oxygen being sufficiently prepared for a diving emergency. The DAN cylinders/regulators are nice because they provide both oxygen on demand and at a constant flow.

An AN class may be a good way for the OP to obtain oxygen at all if it is a lack of credentials which is his main issue, assuming an O2 Provider course is not available. Seems like @SleepySlipper has found a couple options though for getting an emergency cylinder filled

 

[tbone1004]

@fxb that's what the RescuEAN's are for. Demand valves on medical regs are no less dangerous than trying to give breaths to an unconscious person with a scuba regulator. Frankly it may actually be less dangerous since there is an exhaust valve on there so it can't build up quite as much pressure. It's not an MTV-100 which I keep with me when teaching, but a RescuEAN with a BVM and non-rebreather mask work perfectly fine.