Oxygen Masks For Decompression

[Abalone]

The standard treatment for DCS is 100% Oxygen By "tightly fitting mask" and transport to a chamber. Here is a page with info about "tightly fitting 02 masks". Maybe too tightly fitting? So the doctrine should be 02 by "somewhat tightly fitting loose cheap mask"? Any way the ones on the page are expensive stuff ..aviators masks, but probably the best 02 delivery systems as they have sizes but they should not be "too expenxsive" for
big dive boats.. Not pretty however!

http://www.geocities.com/lapswimr/oxygenmask.html

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Abalone.

I've read your post several times and I still don't get it. Are you asking what type of mask or are you looking for an aviator's mask to use for prebreathing/deco?

I checked your link and I found it interesting that the picture of the swimmer (?) wearing a surgical O2 mask showed it on upside down! This could be alright if it resulted in a proper fit...as is sometimes the case.

Along with a mask, you will need a valve and a regulator. DAN has an O2 set-up that has both...in fact it has a non-rebreathing mask as well. Both the anesthesia mask and the aviator's mask require a demand regulator/valve assembly so that oxygen can be delivered when triggered by inhaling.

It is the regulator and the O2 bottle that are costly. The surgical mask is rather cheap...around $20.00. I have no idea about the cost of an aviator's mask...but you still need the O2 cylinder and the regulator/valve.

In the event the person wearing the mask is unconscious and not breathing, you must be able to use some form of positive pressure (ie, positive pressure valve or ambubag) to inflate the lungs. You DON'T want to use a head strap...unless you are alone and must do full CPR. The people in the link photos were using the head strap for convenience.

Larry Stein

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A serviceable aviator MBU-12 or MBU-14 (the USN variant) mask will cost about $250- $300 and this does not include any type of head strap as both are intended to plug into bayonet fittings on a flight helmet. An older serviceable MBU-5 may run a little cheaper at about $150-$200, but you still need a demand regulator and the appropriate fittings to connect everything.

By by the time you are done the complete DAN kit with demand valve, mask and tank will likely cost less and the DAN mask will fit a wide variety of faces.

If you are short of funds, you can go with a run of the mill constant flow regulator designed for a portable tank and a conventional non rebreather mask ($4.00 from DAN). To get the same high 02 level you have to use higher flow rates but it may be more cost effective to buy a second 02 cylinder and use a higher flow rate of 15-16 lpm. DAN uses Jumbo D tanks in their kits and they are nice with E cylinder capacity in a shorter overall lenght but are relatively spendy. The longer, skinnier E-cylinders are pretty cheap on the used market and can be had for less than $50 each or can be rented from most med supply companies.

A non-rebreather mask is not ideal compared to a tight fitting demand mask, but is much better than nothing and offers the advantage of being able to support two users in a pinch. With some careful shopping, you can put together a non-rebreather mask 02 kit with used tank, regulator and new mask for around $100. And in the end, a non-rebreather kit that is actually on board is a whole lot more effective than a demand system that is still being considered for purchase.

 

[Abalone]

The DAN kit is a good setup for the money . For a rescue O2 kit it has everything you need without a lot of money going out, and there are a lot of cheap ways to get O2 by building your own kits, I saw this page and put up a link to it as it has a link to the Air Force site with instructions to build a adapter to allow the aviators style mask with regular O2 bottles.
The Air Force has issues with DCS with aviators and there doctrine is O2 by aviators mask as they provide high O2 levels with the adapter to ambulance O2 bottles to transport to a chamber as the doctrine they support is 100% O2 by tight fitting mask. These mask systems are not cheap . I noted that. They also are not for divers who are passed out . The Dan kit is better for that. Just a link for intrested divers who may have the money and need for this special type gear and did not know it existed.

 

[Abalone]

Just saw about "do you have a question dive medicine ect" sorry I posted this here probably the wrong place on the site. Not a question just a link! I will contain my posts here to questions I have or answers to other divers.!

 

[BigJetDriver]

Laurence Stein DDS once bubbled...
I checked your link and I found it interesting that the picture of the swimmer (?) wearing a surgical O2 mask showed it on upside down! This could be alright if it resulted in a proper fit...as is sometimes the case.
Larry Stein [/B]

Larry,

Are you sure YOU weren't upside-down at the time? We know how wild you dentists get when it's playtime!!! :wacko: =-)

 

[sharpenu]

You will deliver 100% O2 with a full non-rebreather mask. A picture of which is below...

The best way to do this (on a concious patient), is to lay them on their left side, and place this mask on them. Run the regulator at 15 liters per minute.

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Abalone,

It was fine to post this question here...even if it were by accident. The appropriatness was not a question. The post did not contain a question. Just a website about the aviators type of mask. I simply wondered if you were asking about this type of mask or commenting on the expense of such masks.

I also got the feeling that this link was from a swim team using O2 as a way to remove CO2 before or after exercise...rather than diving.

BigJetDriver69...Yes, upside down...It might surprise you to know that following dental school...in the dark ages, I did a years residency at a hospital. Part of that residency was an anesthesia rotation which actually lasted all year. I did more anesthesia than dentistry.

I was called in for gunshots, open heart, orthopedics...you name it. I also covered head and neck trauma and was on the "Code Blue" team when covering anesthesia. Dentistry was something I did during the day!

The mask pictured, actually looks upside down. The larger part is up by the nose and usually that part is on the bottom. Now it just might be that that particular mask is made that way. I will admit that the inflation stem is usually located on top as pictured. Occasionally, it is necessary to invert a mask to get a better fit. This is common on children, especially if you are using an small adult mask. It is also possible for small adults and a standard mask.

The way that mask is fabricated, it would be hard to hold on the face.

Not just another pretty smile huh?=-)

Larry Stein

 

[Abalone]

I thought I had seen a picture somewhere of a similar mask as "the swimmer" on the web page. I have some old books and theres a similar mask on a Cousteau diver in the book "World Without Sun" It was published in..1964 and on page 190 is a diver "Portelatine"
who is wearing a very similar mask during a 3.5 hour decompression from "Starfish House " a habitat they have lived in for 168 hours according to the text. You can see a oval lable on the nose that says "Anti Static" It has a exhaust port in the middle and a bag at the bottom and a tube at the top part.It is a bit wider at the bottom then top and the main body looks like plastic with a seal around the body. The date is 12 July 1963. Its probably the same mask as "the swimmer " because it looks the same but from a front view and on "the swimmer" there is a spot on the nose that looks like the lkable anti static but I can see any thing on the web page. My guess is " the swimmer " is a Cousteau diver or someone from that period.

 

[Abalone]

The mask on the link offered by sharpnu is a standard non rebreather mask. Every EMT in this country will tell you they deliver 100% O2. at 15 liters Well they don't because of leakage. Thats why the Air Force went to all the trouble to make the adapters to allow the pilots standard aviators mask and with flight helmet attachable to standard O2 bottles in ambulences. Thats to provide 100% O2 to the pilot till they get to a chamber which is on base not a hour away which may be the case with divers. Also these plastic masks are never used in chambers because of the leaks. These
plastic bag masks are used by EMT's for several reasons. 1 There cheap and throwaway. 2. They are not too tight to scare victims of auto accidents ect on the way to the hospitol, 3 . and the main reason they work for 99 percent of all the persons who need extra O2.. but divers with DCS are not a part of that group. They are the 1/10th percent of 100 percent of people who when in need of O2 on the way to a chamber need real 100% O2. Not 86% or 91 % or what not. Make you own choice is all I can say.
Its a piddly point now 94% O2 or 99%-100% O2..unless your the one who is bent and need all the help you can get. Color co-ordinated gear wont help you on the way to a chamber. Nuff said!