| Re: O2 slug
Direct from the source....
Hi John,
This is a fairly common question, at first glance injecting oxygen on the inhale side would seem counter intuitive. However, CNS is not a condition that "strikes" with a breath of pure O2, it is a combination of time and level of PO2. If your operating envelope is anywhere near normal PO2 range a CNS hit is not an issue from a an occasional injection of O2. On the other side of the envelope if your PO2 had dropped to dangerously low levels and you were on the edge of Hypoxia you may not have the 3 or 4 breaths left to pull O2 from the exhale side, through the loop to your lips before you pass out. The overall design of the Meg is based on crictical controls being assessable to either hand and the ability of a diver on the edge of unconsciousness from whatever cause to have the best chance of self rescue. As you mentioned it is easy to switch the O2 to the exhale side and when I dive a 4 cell lung that is what I do to maintain a stable reading on the 4th cell.
Best Regards,
Jerry Whatley
General Manager
InnerSpace Systems Corporation |