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> Does anyone know if there exists a regulator which could be used to
> ventilate a non-breathing diver?
There do exist various positive pressure ventilation devices ranging
from the "Ambu-bag" (bag-valve-mask, or BVM) through "push-button"
regulators with mask attached to the big ventilators you see in
hospitals. A problem with incorporating this into a scuba regulator
would be that in order for PP artificial ventilation to work, you need
some sort of seal on the airway -- either a tight-fitting mask or an
endotracheal (ET) tube. This might be possible with a scuba mouthpiece
on the reg, but I'd imagine it would be *very* difficult (it's tough
enough just to keep a seal & open airway with a mask designed for that
purpose!).
Another problem is that the use of these positive pressure devices,
including the BVM, requires some training & experience. Using them
improperly can easily result in ineffective ventilations and/or further
injury to the patient. As an EMT, I have *never* used a PP/demand type
regulator as anything other than a demand valve for the occasional
firefighter who sucked in some smoke. We use Ambu-bags with supplemental
oxygen for ventilating non-breathing patients (with an ET tube if/when
paramedics get there). The PP/demand system is almost *too* easy for
an untrained person to (mis-)use -- I've seen many cases of police
officers using the ones they carry and doing nothing but filling the
patient's stomach up with oxygen...
> With many of us carrying O2 on dives, it would seem rather useful to
> have such a regulator on the O2 stage bottle;
How about adapting a standard oxygen flow-control reg to fit your
valve, and using that with a pocket mask or (if properly trained)
a BVM? This would seem to be a much more versatile and reliable
arrangement, and would probably cost less -- the same reg could also
be used with other oxygen masks for a victim who didn't need
assisted ventilation or high concentrations of O2 (assuming there's
someone around properly qualified to make that decision, of course).
Not quite kosher as far as gas handling standards, but neither is
having the O2 stage bottle to begin with, so... :-)
In my personal jump kit, which travels with me, I carry a disposable
BVM (cost < $50), a pocket mask with oxygen inlet (cost ~$25), and
I hope to add an O2 reg as described above soon (cost ???, probably
not more than a few hundred $s). Also, the boat I dive on has oxygen
on board (K-bottle), with a standard pin-index valve and flow-control
reg, so all I'd really need there is the tubing (which I also carry).
--tab
--
Tracey Baker tab@pa*.co* / tab@go*.ho*.at*.co*
"I don't think safety is the main issue here...
You'd be stupid not to be safe."
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