A couple of times a year I go scuba diving on a friend’s boat. He has the full setup with an air compressor, tanks and such. He also carries a full medical kit with oxygen.
Well he just had the O2 tank hydrostatically tested but the company would not fill it for him. Apparently, need a prescription to get medical grade oxygen in my state. So how can we get this bottle refilled?
[QUOTE=cmjeff;113037]So how can we get this bottle refilled?[/QUOTE]
With an adapater off a welding oxygen bottle. Or go to an airport.
get a prescription from a doctor perhaps?
Getting the oxygen filled outside of the medical industry will be the first step. You friend should research the dive shops in his area and figure out which shops cater to divers who use breathing gasses other than air. Any shop that fills nitrox (oxygen plus air), tri-mix (helium,oxygen, and air), and especially oxygen rich mixes or pure 02 for decompression will have high grade oxygen (medical O2 isn’t actually that pure) and will likely have the capability to fill his tank. Shops that cater to technical divers will be more likely to be willing and able to fill than the typical dive shop. The dive shops willingness to fill his O2 cylinder will be enhanced if he has training in Emergency Oxygen Therapy from the Diver’s Alert Network. Getting a fill of aviator’s breathing oxygen (ABO has a lower moisture content as part of its standard) at he local airport FBO might be an other option but I don’t know if they use the same valves.
If your friend is in Western Washington PM me and I can tell him where to go.
[QUOTE=c.captain;113040]get a prescription from a doctor perhaps?[/QUOTE]
Imagine when the friendly folks at the NMC medical review crew hear about it! Assuming one is licensed of course
so here’s a question…if it is a genuine emergency why could you not administer welding oxygen to an accident victim? What harm could it cause?
[QUOTE=c.captain;113053]so here’s a question…if it is a genuine emergency why could you not administer welding oxygen to an accident victim? What harm could it cause?[/QUOTE]
Considering there is absolutely no difference between “medical oxygen” and the stuff that comes out of a welding bottle, why should that even be a question? Tell the gasping victim that you are sorry he is dying but the only oxygen available doesn’t have the right label?
I used to fly an umpressurized WW2 surplus bomber trainer hauling mail across the Rockies and used a lot of oxygen. I refilled the bottles myself from welding bottles because so called “aviators oxygen” was way overpriced as was “medical oxygen.” All 3 flavors came out of the same source at the local gas supplier and met the same specs and were equally dry.
that’s what I figured so now this question. How about using air from a ship’s service compressor for breathing purposes such as a sandblaster’s hood?
[QUOTE=c.captain;113058]that’s what I figured so now this question. How about using air from a ship’s service compressor for breathing purposes such as a sandblaster’s hood?[/QUOTE]
There you are getting into another realm.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=12716&p_table=standards
The compressor we have on board to fill SCBA bottles has to have an air quality test by a lab every quarter and maintained to a higher degree. Not that a similar compressor couldn’t pass the tests, but I’d probably want some assurance before pressing it into life support service, and this probably comes from some regulatory requirement. The output air quality is metered during every use with a multi-gas monitor, and the quarterly test picks up oil mist, particles, and moisture that might be contaminating the air.
[QUOTE=“c.captain;113058”]that’s what I figured so now this question. How about using air from a ship’s service compressor for breathing purposes such as a sandblaster’s hood?[/QUOTE]
Even with an air water separator I wouldnt want to breath that air Especially on older boats where the rings are worn and youre getting a lot of oil blow by.
[QUOTE=Steamer;113056]Considering there is absolutely no difference between “medical oxygen” and the stuff that comes out of a welding bottle, why should that even be a question? Tell the gasping victim that you are sorry he is dying but the only oxygen available doesn’t have the right label?
I used to fly an umpressurized WW2 surplus bomber trainer hauling mail across the Rockies and used a lot of oxygen. I refilled the bottles myself from welding bottles because so called “aviators oxygen” was way overpriced as was “medical oxygen.” All 3 flavors came out of the same source at the local gas supplier and met the same specs and were equally dry.[/QUOTE]
My only worry with this is the liability of using welding gas if the victim dies (which is likely if he’s in bad enough shape that you need to pull out the mask).
[QUOTE=c.captain;113058]that’s what I figured so now this question. How about using air from a ship’s service compressor for breathing purposes such as a sandblaster’s hood?[/QUOTE]
You can breath compressor air (if the compressor ks oil-less, has correct filters and a clean intake location) but that won’t provide you any medical benefit.
Check with your local EMS or fire dept. they can get O2 refills but I don’t know if they will for non emergency service personnel
Service air and breathing air are two different things
Poster’s who commented that aviator’s, welding, and medical oxygen coming from the same source are essentially correct and are on to a subject that is endlessly discussed on forums for technical divers (they get in to discussing how to save a buck on helium too). What is different between the various industrial gas grades and breathing gas grades is how the cylinders are treated and filled. Breathing grades (and various non-welding industrial grades) have a variety of additional procedures to ensure that they are not contaminated with residual gasses or other toxins, usually by evacuating the contents until a vacuum is pulled on the cylinder and handling them separately from other products.
The fact that the owner of the emergency oxygen kit doesn’t know how to get it filled suggests that they may be lacking in other knowledge related to using it. The DAN coursesare a really good resource to brush up on the subject of diving emergencies. Anybody encountering a dive related emergency can also consult with them 24/7 at +1-919-684-9111 after mobilizing their local emergency responders. DAN is also a very affordable source of international medical and medical evacuation/repatriation insurance that might be of interest to a traveling mariner.
[QUOTE=boatengineer;113084]Service air and breathing air are two different things[/QUOTE]
I just recall being on vessels where we were doing ongoing sandblasting and the hood was being fed from service air. I always imagined that was not the best idea because of oil and water contamination but those were the bad old daze when men would smoke anywhere at any time.
[QUOTE=c.captain;113095]I just recall being on vessels where we were doing ongoing sandblasting and the hood was being fed from service air. I always imagined that was not the best idea because of oil and water contamination but those were the bad old daze when men would smoke anywhere at any time.[/QUOTE]
Oil contamination is not the big issue, it is CO resulting from oxidation of the oil. You get a ton more oil in your lungs just walking through the engine room than you will from the SS air compressor receiver. The other consideration is that you are not depending on that airflow for life support, it is for cooling and to create a very slight (important point when considering the partial pressure of gas contaminants) positive pressure under the hood to keep out dust.
As for water, it is not a contaminant in the example, it can be a problem if the ambient air temperature is low and the pressure reduction at the regulator is high. Moist air will freeze and block the air flow. Medical and aviators oxygen is dry to prevent that problem under any circumstance but if you peek behind the curtain, you will see that medical oxygen is normally administered through a water bubbler in order to add moisture so as not to dry out the throat and lungs.
You can buy oxygen from DAN. Here’s the link (you might have to be logged in as a member):
…meanwhile we breathe detroit exhaust, black oil fumes, etc
When you do all the tests on Scba compressors, what is it a requirement of? Agency/client/class/company? Jus curious.