I'm always looking for unique first aid and EMS related items. Found this at a nearby antique mall. Trying to date it but can't find anything on the web. I'm guessing 1960's??
Air-O-Life Instant Emergency Oxygen
- Thread starter Bill Leverett
- Start date
Jean-Marc Dugas
PCS Member
Those look brand new.
Tim Prieur
PCS Member
Great find Bill.
It is new. Everything inside the box is untouched. The Readers Digest First Aid Manual interesting...includes the old "double cross incision and suck the venom out with your mouth" technique.
Definitely 1960s. Otto Bernz a/k/a Bernzomatic drove itself beyond nuts trying to develop that cylinder and insert a plastic neck into it in a way that allowed the joint to retain pressure for more than a month. The closest they got was being able to package spray paint in the cylinder successfully.
Top pressure on that can was around 125psi before something let go. When they moved the paint line to the new factory in Albion it became short lived after the new concrete floor got painted by cans going off on their own.
Top pressure on that can was around 125psi before something let go. When they moved the paint line to the new factory in Albion it became short lived after the new concrete floor got painted by cans going off on their own.
Thanks Walter for the information. Interesting story. Instructions and information state "contains approximately 5 gallons pure USP Oxygen". The valve is more in line with a pressurized whip cream container.
Shoving 5 gallons @ atmosphere into that bottle wouldn't be a problem. Keeping 5 gallons in the bottle would be though.
When you look at the invoice for compressed gas it shows cubic feet compressed to **psi @ 70°f. Oxy is a very compressible gas and behaves nicely under compression. Even has big molecules that don't try sneaking out of the vessel, unlike Helium.
Stumbling thru my brain I also recall the 60s was the time frame when GM began experimenting with space saver spare 'tires' more appropriately devices that caused grown men to park & laugh. The sidewalls were accordion pleated and the rest of the setup was a Co2 cylinder that screwed onto the tire valve. The instruction manual was adequate to the task, presuming Beverly or Fred wasn't scared spitless of small pressure vessels and had a clue. It also presumed the gas bottle would eventually be found hidden in the trunk. These presumptions were incorrect given some of the language I heard from ladies attempting to employ the device.
GM even sold a fiber cone that could be attached to the Co2 bottle to use the bottle for firefighting, difficult fires like when you realized somebody left a pack of matches in the ash tray.
The bottle was also advertised as refillable. It could be done, but National wouldn't even try after Junior got kicked across the shop by one.
Those were the fun days.
When you look at the invoice for compressed gas it shows cubic feet compressed to **psi @ 70°f. Oxy is a very compressible gas and behaves nicely under compression. Even has big molecules that don't try sneaking out of the vessel, unlike Helium.
Stumbling thru my brain I also recall the 60s was the time frame when GM began experimenting with space saver spare 'tires' more appropriately devices that caused grown men to park & laugh. The sidewalls were accordion pleated and the rest of the setup was a Co2 cylinder that screwed onto the tire valve. The instruction manual was adequate to the task, presuming Beverly or Fred wasn't scared spitless of small pressure vessels and had a clue. It also presumed the gas bottle would eventually be found hidden in the trunk. These presumptions were incorrect given some of the language I heard from ladies attempting to employ the device.
GM even sold a fiber cone that could be attached to the Co2 bottle to use the bottle for firefighting, difficult fires like when you realized somebody left a pack of matches in the ash tray.
The bottle was also advertised as refillable. It could be done, but National wouldn't even try after Junior got kicked across the shop by one.
Those were the fun days.
Might be a thing I ought to mention here given I get the impression a few of you youngsters might be lacking in experience with compressed Co2.
First when working around Co2 always understand it will tire you out from the higher than normal percentage of Co2 in the air you're breathing, and not long after you get tired you get STUPID! You also might get a headache but that won't get you hurt like the stupid will. When you feel the silly coming on get out and get sober.
Second thing, discharging Co2 from the bottle thru a hose or conical nozzle generates a LOT of static electricity. For that reason there is a wire across the discharge to carry the static back to the bottle and in theory prevent the dummy discharging the bottle from getting shocked. Always check it before you use it, that shock is about 3 times as nasty as a lawnmower sparkplug.
Anybody want to guess what GM didn't include in their fire extinguisher cone for the tire inflator?
First when working around Co2 always understand it will tire you out from the higher than normal percentage of Co2 in the air you're breathing, and not long after you get tired you get STUPID! You also might get a headache but that won't get you hurt like the stupid will. When you feel the silly coming on get out and get sober.
Second thing, discharging Co2 from the bottle thru a hose or conical nozzle generates a LOT of static electricity. For that reason there is a wire across the discharge to carry the static back to the bottle and in theory prevent the dummy discharging the bottle from getting shocked. Always check it before you use it, that shock is about 3 times as nasty as a lawnmower sparkplug.
Anybody want to guess what GM didn't include in their fire extinguisher cone for the tire inflator?