Emergency Oxygen Kits

[warmwaterdiver]

that seems a bit excessive Fin!

I'll call you later

[finbar.taylor]

Originally Posted by warmwaterdiver

that seems a bit excessive Fin!

I'll call you later

After an event a few years back the though of having to tell some one there loved one ain't coming back made me open my wallet!

[fatone]

Fin's kit is one of the best on the market !
You need to deciede if you want 100% O2 for a diver who can breath unaided or, an O2 resusitator for someone who potencialy may have drowned. Fins does both. Your risk assesment should tell you this.
What i would say is dont skimp on safety kit, its not a saving if a £300 kit does not do the job properly. You get what you pay for sometimes.
You also want to consider the worst case senario of how long you may have to give O2 before assistance comes, this will dictate the size of the cylinder required. Buy a diving cylinder with a pin index valve in it, it's cheaper, SAP gear is good but expensive, a cheaper alternative is to source the reducer, hose and mask from St. Johns or similar as thier profit margins are a lot less.

[finbar.taylor]

Originally Posted by fatone

Fin's kit is one of the best on the market !

I've printed this out and framed it no one has ever said that about my kit before!

[warmwaterdiver]

cheers for the St Johns tip Neil

[Howard Payne]

I think that the ability to resucitate someone with O2 and/or an AED will dramatically increase your chances of bringing them back. The ERC 2005 changes to resuc from 15:2 to 30:2 largely reflect how ineffective performing mouth to mouth CPR is on someone with exhaled air containing only c.16% O2.

I reckon a DAN kit with the MTV100 Positive Pressure Valve and an SAP Adaptor to fit the O2 Two Pin Reg to a standard DIN scuba cylinder is a pretty perfect combination. Most "in kit" O2 cylinder really don't conatin anything like enough O2 to handle a prolonged wait for a chopper or two bent divers at the same time.

The Pneupac VR1 is a mega piece of kit and an absolute bargain

HTH

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by fatone

You also want to consider the worst case senario of how long you may have to give O2 before assistance comes, this will dictate the size of the cylinder required.

It amazes me sometimes, that as long as the skipper says he has O2,
thats seen as ok without checking how much.

Worth checking when phoning up the skipper (usually the night before)
if he used it on that day. It happens that on a weekend you have an
incident on the Saturday and no way of getting it refilled before the next
day. So yes there is O2, but nowhere near as much as before.

So I work on worse case of two divers breathing heavy, furthest distance
from port, no helo and 20 mins of diver recall time. Then times it by 2.

You'd be surprised how much you need.

[Helen F H]

We have a few kits.

1) Marinox kit, great little kit, idiot proof. In waterproof tube so ideal for a rib. Small cylinder size, but then we have at least 4 J's of O2 handy to re-fill.

2) The giant thermos flask as seen here on divers warehouse https://vault2.secured-url.com/mtcsl/dw/index.htm Big downside to this is the mask, which is not transparent.

I found having a transparent mask essential to check the casualty was breathing (not easy to tell in a drysuit on a rocking boat). Also you need to be able to see if they have spewed up and if the airway is clear.

3) a medical bullnose fitting constant flow kit - more a kit for a buddy who is asymptomatic but with the right kind of mask you can get a very high concentration of O2. We get cylinders from the chamber, currently this is on a 7l i think.

We also carry a resus bag which you can buy for around 15 quid meaning you dont have to do rescue breathing etc. BVM Resuscitator - Disposable Vinyl - Merlin Medical - SP Services (UK) Ltd this can be connected to an O2 supply via a constant supply valve and a bit of tube which comes with the bag.

[warmwaterdiver]

so is this only suitable for one patient?

Bullnose Oxygen Regulator with Multiflow Valve (F60036)

I'm presuming its 'constant flow' rather than 'on demand'

[Helen F H]

Originally Posted by warmwaterdiver

so is this only suitable for one patient?

Bullnose Oxygen Regulator with Multiflow Valve (F60036)

I'm presuming its 'constant flow' rather than 'on demand'

I would say so. It certainly looks like it is a constant flow kit not on demand. On demand ones are harder to come by as they are not used in the general medical world (the closest i found was entonox stuff as that is used via a DV rather than constant flow).

A chat a while ago with Dr Mary established that in hospitals they use the plastic masks with the little bag attached to give the highest level of O2. Respi-Check™ High Concentration Oxygen Mask ADULT - SP Services (UK) Ltd

If higher levels are needed they knock you out and stuff a tube down your throat.