Help Building O2 Kit

[Aggie Diver]

Hey gang,

Figured this was a good place to start on this.

The A&M Scuba club had an 02 tank donated to it for building an O2 kit.

Problem is, none of the other gear we need came with it (valve, hose, regulator, mask, etc.)

What all do we need to put together a full kit? Any help would be appreciated, you can also email me at blackwell@tamu.edu.

Oh, and to head it off ahead of time yes I know we should be properly trained - gonna have at least three club officers trained in its use starting next year.

Thanks,

AD

 

[BigJetDriver]

Hey gang,

Figured this was a good place to start on this.

The A&M Scuba club had an 02 tank donated to it for building an O2 kit.

Problem is, none of the other gear we need came with it (valve, hose, regulator, mask, etc.)

Thanks,

AD

AD,

Glad your club is getting set up properly. Easy suggestion, go to the DAN web-site, and look at their kits and supplies. Hint: A Tru-fit mask with a demand valve makes a much better supply choice than the constant flow units, but having the kit in almost any form is better than nothing!

Cheers!

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

What all do we need to put together a full kit?

Take the training from DAN. They will tell you everything that you need to know about the equipment and administration. Then you can buy the equipment from them as well.

If you would like to go it more on you own, check out www.airspeedpress.com. There are some interesting things you can do to make your own equipment or make existing equipment better. I would not suggest making the attempt unless you have training and know what to do. But if you do, this is the place to go.

 

[Aggie Diver]

Thanks for the insight, the training is something we plan on doing later this month.

We're trying to get a proposal written up for funding by the school (for the equipment) that I need to have done by Thursday, that's why I'm trying to put together what equipment is needed to build a kit.

So far the best I can tell we need a regulator, hose, and case (we have a couple of the nice pocket masks with the hole for O2 hose insert in our emergency first aid kit).

Am I missing anything? Do we need any of those special wrenches to turn on the tank or anything like that, or is it just needless excess?

 

[Drew Sailbum]

You will need:

Regulator (usually comes with handwheel valve)
special o-ring
2 hoses
Tru fit demand mask
constant flow mask

Nice to have:
second tank
some sort of case to store it all in for east transport

 

[BigJetDriver]

Am I missing anything? Do we need any of those special wrenches to turn on the tank or anything like that, or is it just needless excess?

The regulator should come with the handle/wrench, but in a pinch, anything that fits the stem will do.

 

[ArcticDiver]

Thanks for the insight, the training is something we plan on doing later this month.

We're trying to get a proposal written up for funding by the school (for the equipment) that I need to have done by Thursday, that's why I'm trying to put together what equipment is needed to build a kit.

So far the best I can tell we need a regulator, hose, and case (we have a couple of the nice pocket masks with the hole for O2 hose insert in our emergency first aid kit).

Am I missing anything? Do we need any of those special wrenches to turn on the tank or anything like that, or is it just needless excess?

Best place for local info that will help is your on-campus EMS. They can tell you what you need in the kit as well as give you the cheapest sources for material and supplies.

They can also be a good start for training.

They might even be able to use their sources to get you a good deal.

 

[oxyhacker]

At the very least you need an adjustable-flow medical regulator capable of delivering 15 lpm to fit your tank ($150 new, $25 or so used, all prices are approximate) and a non-rebreather mask ($5, disposable).

To make a top-line setup, you will also want the demand mask already mentioned since these greatly increase tank duration by feeding the person being treated with O2 only when they need it (like a SCUBA regulator) rather than flowing constantly. The problem with these, is that most of them have a button that lets the administrator to "force feed" O2 to the victim, and these can be dangerous in the hands of a person without medical training. DAN has special demand masks made for them which don't have the button, for use by people with no, or only DAN, training, but these are expensive at about $250. Also, the demand mask can only be used with a regulator equipped with the right kind of outlet port and connector, though these are usually capable of running both a demand mask and non-rebreather mask simultaneously, useful if you ever have to treat two divers at once!

A Tru-fit mask (about $20) is also desirable with or without the demand mask, since it can also be used for giving mouth-to-mouth with extra O2.

Since a used tank goes for $30-60 on ebay, the tank you have been given represents only the lesser portion of the price of a full kit. Also, since an extra tank is much cheaper than a demand mask, it can make sense, for a low-budget setup, to buy an extra tank instead of a demand mask, as a way of increasing duration - ideally you should have enough O2 to administer O2 to the person being treated until they can be handed over to a hospital or ambulance where they can start receiving proper treatment which means at least an hour, and the D tank usually supplied with such kits is good only for about 24 minutes at the recommended 15 lpm (a demand mask will double that). So if funding is available, you might want to buy a full kit, from a local med supplier from Dan, and use the O2 tank you have been given as a spare, for extra duration.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Now that's the great thing about this board! We get some real authorities on many subjects who are willing to pitch in with their information!

Thank you, Vance. We do appreciate it!

 

[DA Aquamaster]

An E sized tank is larger, much more common and normally a lot cheaper (but longer - about the height of a steel 72) so you can usually afford 2 of them for the price of a single D or jumbo D. This gives you a lot more O2 if you are using a constant flow regulator and non-rebreather mask.

The Jumbo D is ideal for an O2 kit as it offers "E" capacity in a shorter D sized package (with a larger diameter). But they tend to be a bit more expensive.

With a non rebreather mask you can get near 100% concentration but you need a good fitting mask and a 15-16 liter flow rate. With a lesser flow rate and a poor fitting mask the O2 concentration can be reduced to somewhere around 35% to 50%.

A demand mask and regulator are the ideal way to go, but you can still do a lot with a lower cost constant flow system if you take care to fit the mask properly and have adequate oxygen available to maintain the required flow rate.

It's a good idea to throw in a BP cuff, stethyscope, and a pad of paper and pencil to record vitals, times, symptoms, when the O2 was started, as well as any air breaks and any other info that seems important. This is nice information for the doc to have when you eventually reach the ER.