ev780, I would state that with very few exceptions, a dive accident does merit O2. Most all accidents are going to be DCS/DCI related where CPR is not needed. I cannot remember the one specific injury known to diving that O2 is bad, but even that one was arguable that it would not hurt. As for the demand regulator, most of the time I wished I had O2, it was to attempt to prevent DCS/DCI, e.g. OOA emergency, blown deco, feeling bad... Specifically in my case, the diver was able to use a regulator to breath. I would suspect that if they were not going to be benefited by a demand reg, unless a helicopter was on the way, the overall prognosis would not be good, demand reg or constant flow, especially 1-8 hrs out.
Also remember, in the tech side, O2 use is the normal. I was on pure O2 less than 4 days ago for about 10 minutes. :cool2: Diving and O2 go together like .....
I don't necessarily disagree with you. The inevitable "but," though. I have seen far to often the mentality of just slap a mask on the patient and turn the bottle up to 15lpm without giving it a second thought. (Don't get me started on the widespread misuse of the non-rebreather mask.) It needs to be given thought and I would argue that we need to be much more careful in it's administration including proper training and pulse-ox monitoring. I agree exceedingly rare that oxygen can be harmful but if you misdiagnose the gas embolism and it turns out to be a heart attack you have done nothing good for the patient by flooding them with oxygen.
Again, it is the treatment of choice for DCI and should never be withheld but I am less convinced we know what the target range is for blood oxygen levels. Getting the patient to their baseline is good but the data is less clear on the effects of going beyond that.
I was just saying that medical oxygen is a controlled medication for a reason and should be given the same deference as any other medication. Take it seriously.