Oxygen Script?

rockwoodrv9a

rockwoodrv9a

Pre-takeoff checklist
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rockwoodrv9a
I will be heading out west this fall and will for sure need Oxygen. I have an Inogen G4 but my battery does not last as long as I want so I either get a new battery or a tank system. I think I want a tank system so it is good for 2 people.

My doctor said he is willing to write a script but has never done it and didnt know what to say so I could get fill ups when needed. How long can he write it for? Do I carry the original or a copy with me?

Does anyone have a sample script or have one or explain what is needed? Thanks.
 
I’ve never had any issue getting a bottle filled without a prescription. Or even buying a bottle.
 
Salty said:
I’ve never had any issue getting a bottle filled without a prescription. Or even buying a bottle.
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Even at a medical supply in another state? If the airport I go into doesnt have fills, I would get it fille in a town medical supply. That is my concern. I think maybe just a letter stating he approved getting the tank filled for flights?
 
I just google the closest place and they fill me up. Never thought about it. Maybe I’ve been lucky.
 
Can’t you get an automotive charger for your Inogen? Ive heard that you can install a tee to feed two people.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Can’t you get an automotive charger for your Inogen? Ive heard that you can install a tee to feed two people.
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I do have it set up to run on the charger. It works fine for me up to about 10k'. I will need to go up to about 14k' this fall and I may have a passenger too so the G4 is not powerful enough. The G5 is close and the new G6 would probably do it but I need a tank for this trip.
 
Salty said:
I just google the closest place and they fill me up. Never thought about it. Maybe I’ve been lucky.
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Maybe I am worrying about something I dont need to. I will try and take my tank to a few places in town and see what they say. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
rockwoodrv9a said:
Maybe I am worrying about something I dont need to. I will try and take my tank to a few places in town and see what they say. Thanks for the suggestions.
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Just call them and ask.
 
I had the same question. I found that welding O2 doesn't need a prescription, and is actually as good or better than medical O2. I forget why, but check with a welding or fire extinguisher shop. (Some Fire Extinguisher shops refill welding O2 bottles). I also found they are less expensive than an FBO or Medical O2 place.
 
Just get an extra O2 bottle so you don't have to worry about running out. When you get a layover, find the local welding gas supply store and they'll either refill your bottles or more than likely do a bottle exchange. Takes about 2 minutes.

And once again, the O2 the welding gas people have is the same the medical and aviation people have. It's all the same, comes from the same source. Same moisture content, same whatever.
 
Welding oxygen, medical oxygen, aviators breathing oxygen all come from the same place. Oxygen nowadays is all made by liquefaction. 50+ years ago that wasn't the case. They say moisture content is a concern, that's nonsense in this day and age with the current extraction process.

Hit up a local weld shop. My welding gas vendor will fill them for me. If you're a frequent oxygen user, buy a tank and fill em yourself.
 
My question is when I am 2000 miles from home and need a refill. Will a welding shop fill an aluminum medical oxygen tank? I dont really want to carry a heavy steel welding tank in my plane. I have an adapter I got from MH but would they use it? Do they have their own adapter? My Inogen G4 works fine for anything this side of the Rockys so I dont need a home refill.
 
Welding O2 is an option. Or pop by a scuba store.
 
rockwoodrv9a said:
My question is when I am 2000 miles from home and need a refill. Will a welding shop fill an aluminum medical oxygen tank? I dont really want to carry a heavy steel welding tank in my plane. I have an adapter I got from MH but would they use it? Do they have their own adapter? My Inogen G4 works fine for anything this side of the Rockys so I dont need a home refill.
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I would use tanks with the standard CGA 540 Valve to make refilling and bottle swapping easy.
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A standard 20 cubic foot (566 liters) empty weighs 14 pounds. An aluminum about that size, maybe 7 lbs? IMHO not a deal breaker. And for me, I appreciate the extra ruggedness with compressed highly flammable gas. And that it's a fairly standard universal size and valve that is easily bottle swapped. Again, I think you'll find most places will do a bottle swap - empty for a full - similar to what you do for your BBQ propane tank.



This is all what I've found to work very well while on the road. Hope this helps.
 
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bbchien said:
Just be certain the bottle is labelled “oxygenUSP”. If it’s labelled “ABO” or “medical oxygen”, you will need a script.
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I am learning I know less about tanks and filling than I thought. I can see it would be easier to go with a small welding tank system and maybe that is the best bet. If I wanted to get a script, do you have a sample I can show my doctor? He doesnt know what to write. Maybe just a letter from him? Thanks
 
With a possible unusual exception, portable medical oxygen tank suppliers will exchange your tank for another. This would have to be a tank with the valving for interfacing with usual medical equipment. Before you assume, have the av ox tank checked at a Durable Medical Equipment (DME) supply house and see if it is possible. A welding gas supplier will be able to fill it vs exchange, just make sure the tank meets recent visual/hydrostatic inspection requirements.
 
I have a medical prescription. This was arrived at by some back and forth between my doctor and the inhalation therapist. My doctor first asked me what I wanted (flow rate, reason, etc). I wanted to make sure that my aviation medical did not get penalized in some way, so here it is (final version that I have used for the last few years):

O2 Rx for prevention of altitude sickness > 10,000 ft altitude
flow rate 1/2 L/minute

The script is valid for 1 year, so I just ask him for another one during my annual checkup, and send the oxygen tank rental company a copy.

As for the tanks, I have medical rentals. In my country (Canada) they rent the regulator, but the tank is free. I just have to pay the oxygen volume/content, and there is no monthly cost associated with tank/oxygen. Tanks get swapped out, and they even deliver for free . As for the regulator, I declined the rental and purchased a pediatric regulator on Amazon, along with Oxymizer canulas to help conserve oxygen. A "T" fiting allows two people to be fed by one tank. It seems crude but I was assured by other pilots that it would work. And it does. An oximeter to measure your saturation levels, and you are set for your adventure.

Tanks can be replaced at any medical supply store associated with that company, anywhere in North America. Have not had to use that feature yet. I never have to worry about getting tanks tested.

Hope this helps.
 
"Medical Oxygen prn, Valid until __/__/____. Signature, date"....If your bottle is labelled medical oxygen. But I woudl not do that. Make sure it's lablled "Oxygen, USP" or you will have difficulty getting it refilled by the FBOs who are Capable of refill.
 
Back to the basic question - why do you want a doctor's script?

Remember, you can buy breathable O2 from any welding supply store today/right now without a Doctors prescription. You don't have to pay the Doctor for a Doctor's visit, get a script, have an unusual diagnostic code put on your medical file for the insurance company to get confused by, etc. Just go buy it. And buy it a lot cheaper than if you had a prescription.

Costs? 1) Welding shop, etc. - Cheapest and quickest. 2) Aviation/FBO - going to cost a lot more. Why? Because they can. It's the same O2, and yes, they will charge a lot more. And a minority of FBO's refill O2. 3) Medical - I called around, they were expensive, so I've never refilled at one.

As far as tanks go, there is only one requirement - fairly easy, but important. Every five years someone has to do a hydrostatic burst test on the tank, and then they stamp that on the tank. IF you buy a tank from Amazon, etc., you'll be good to go. If you do tank exchanges, the tank you get will be good to go. The ONLY reason I say this is if you see a really cheap tank on E Bay from an low count seller, you might want to look elsewhere.

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get a tank with the CGA540 valve. that is the one that any welders supply shop can fill, or you can carry a transfill adapter for them to do it. They may not "fill" but you can literally buy a $30 "fill" and bleed off a fill and return the tank to them. Most welding shops have no issue with that if you get in a pinch. But the CGA540 is the valve you want. The medical one is CGA780 or something. And that one is trickier as less people have that valve (some welding shots have that as well) so you'll need to carry a transfill adapter from 780 to 540.
 
GaryM said:
They aren’t putting O2 in their SCBA tanks. Air only
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Most ambulances carry a large tank (H tank, 7000 liters) piped to flow regulators. They also carry two portable oxygen tanks with regulators and flowmeters built into them. (D tanks, 425 liters). Some fire departments fill their own, some purchase refills.
 
WDD said:
I would use tanks with the standard CGA 540 Valve to make refilling and bottle swapping easy. View attachment 131481

A standard 20 cubic foot (566 liters) empty weighs 14 pounds. An aluminum about that size, maybe 7 lbs? IMHO not a deal breaker. And for me, I appreciate the extra ruggedness with compressed highly flammable gas. And that it's a fairly standard universal size and valve that is easily bottle swapped. Again, I think you'll find most places will do a bottle swap - empty for a full - similar to what you do for your BBQ propane tank.



This is all what I've found to work very well while on the road. Hope this helps.
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Oxygen isn't flammable.
 
Technically true and irrelevant.

O2 is kind of the key ingredient to fire, and O2 from a tank is really good at making a smoldering situation into a bad fire situation.

My point is I don’t want an Oxygen leak if I find myself in an airplane on fire and need to land quickly / get out.
 
WDD said:
Technically true and irrelevant.

O2 is kind of the key ingredient to fire, and O2 from a tank is really good at making a smoldering situation into a bad fire situation.

My point is I don’t want an Oxygen leak if I find myself in an airplane on fire and need to land quickly / get out.
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I'm not sure a weak tank would ever manifest in a leak. I could easily be wrong, but I think if highly compressed gas starts to leak (not from a fitting, but from a structural failure), you pretty much always end up with a bomb.
 
Salty said:
I'm not sure a weak tank would ever manifest in a leak. I could easily be wrong, but I think if highly compressed gas starts to leak (not from a fitting, but from a structural failure), you pretty much always end up with a bomb.
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Well, let’s avoid that.
 
pmanton said:
I fill my bottle from a welding tank with an adapter purchased on-line.
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Not to be the safety jerk, because if you know what you're doing it's fine, but transfilling oxygen if you don't know the dangers can cause things to go boom. Much more so than any fuel gas, because those are almost always too rich to ignite. If *anything* combustible gets in the transfill setup it can cause a problem. (Part of the safety training when I was taught gas welding.)
 
:yeahthat:

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Salty said:
I'm not sure a weak tank would ever manifest in a leak. I could easily be wrong, but I think if highly compressed gas starts to leak (not from a fitting, but from a structural failure), you pretty much always end up with a bomb.
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Acetylene tanks have a plug to bleed off the gas in case of a fire. I believe there was a praxair in St Louis that had a fire and tanks were going off like missiles
 
Albany Tom said:
Not to be the safety jerk, because if you know what you're doing it's fine, but transfilling oxygen if you don't know the dangers can cause things to go boom. Much more so than any fuel gas, because those are almost always too rich to ignite. If *anything* combustible gets in the transfill setup it can cause a problem. (Part of the safety training when I was taught gas welding.)
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In welding school at Lincoln Electric I was told a story of a gentleman who hung his down feather jacket on his oxy fuel torch rig. Puts the jacket on at the end of his shift not realizing the regulator wasn't tight and slightly leaking oxygen. Then he lit up a cigarette.
 
Albany Tom said:
Not to be the safety jerk, because if you know what you're doing it's fine, but transfilling oxygen if you don't know the dangers can cause things to go boom. Much more so than any fuel gas, because those are almost always too rich to ignite. If *anything* combustible gets in the transfill setup it can cause a problem. (Part of the safety training when I was taught gas welding.)
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In Ag shop I was taught, when shutting down an oxy-acetylene, to close the acetylene tank valve and back off the acetylene regulator, close fuel gas valve on torch then purge with O2. Then close the O2 tank/back off regulator and close the other valves on the torch. I though that was a bit unnecessary until someone left the acetylene tank valve slightly less than closed/regulator at the usual 12psi and the torch valves open. When I proceeded to set up the rig for use, I heard a sound like a rifle shot when I opened up the O2 tank valve. I noticed the O2 line ferrule, at the regulator, was blown out as shrapnel. Presumably, acetylene backtracked up the O2 line to the regulator and spontaneously combusted in the presence of/under pressure when the O2 valve was open. Fortunately the brass ferrule bits ended up in a pegboard next to the torch and not in my face/neck/hand. Lesson learned.
 
GaryM said:
They aren’t putting O2 in their SCBA tanks. Air only
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One of the labs where I used to do work - a guy had a heart attack and someone thought that the Scott airpacks had oxygen and stuck the mask on his face. Can't say for sure that he would have survived if they hadn't done that, but it sure didn't help.
 
rockwoodrv9a said:
I will be heading out west this fall and will for sure need Oxygen. I have an Inogen G4 but my battery does not last as long as I want so I either get a new battery or a tank system. I think I want a tank system so it is good for 2 people.

My doctor said he is willing to write a script but has never done it and didnt know what to say so I could get fill ups when needed. How long can he write it for? Do I carry the original or a copy with me?

Does anyone have a sample script or have one or explain what is needed? Thanks.
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Back to the OP. For O2 in an airplane, you'll need not only to secure a tank (s), but you'll need a regulator.

This is the one I have. You can get the two or four person version. Easy to use. https://www.aerox.com/sky-ox-portable-oxygen-regulator/ There are many other choices.

You'll also need cannulas. https://www.aerox.com/sky-ox-cannula-kit/

IMHO - you can buy a LOT of O2 related things from Aerox, Sporty's, and other places. But all you really need is the regulator and the cannula.
 
I'm a physician and wrote myself an O2 rx. I rarely use it. Home base for me is on the Gulf Coast, and there are scuba shops everywhere. It is way less of a pain to take my O2 bottles to a scuba shop, tell them I'm a pilot and need pure O2. Most of them are happy to fill for their usual tank rates. No paperwork, no hassles, and they'll fill whatever tank you give them as long as it's current on inspections.

Since starting to fly with oxygen, I have gained newfound empathy for my patients who need home O2. Dealing with the medical gas supply companies can be tedious. Also, as to your desire to be able to have the tanks filled anywhere you go, technically your rx is only valid in the state it was written. Some places fudge the rules, but there is no guarantee a company in Georgia will honor your Michigan script.

As far as the welder-grade O2 goes, no thanks. All O2 allegedly comes from the same source now, so it should be fine. All it takes is one bad fill though and you'll need an rx for O2 for more than just flying for the rest of your life.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Oxygen isn't flammable.
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Technically true but.
I am generally not very concerned about a small oxygen leak, other than the loss of O2 while flying.
Since we have had some comments about Transfilling, it is wise to point out some safety concerns about doing so.
It is safe as long as a few precautions are taken, and I do it regularly.

PS. maybe I should have read the article I posted below before I said I wasn't to worried about leaks. It had probably been about 10 years since I previously read it. Seem maybe I should be more worried about them and static electricity than I have been.

Brian

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I have a mountain high pulse system with an AL415 bottle. With 2 of us using we can get about 12 hours of flight time out of 1 bottle. I got hosed once at an FBO to fill the bottle. After that I bought a 2nd bottle for $250 bucks and travel with 2 bottles on long trips that I fill from my torch bottles whenever I need to.
 
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