Boost Oxygen?

15 is good, iirc that used to be the minimum age/break point for full " open water diver"/"junior open water" certification, I got you beat though ;-) -- myself and father had to go through a process signing multiple waivers and he had to get certified along side me to get scuba certified at the age of 12--- they have since lowered the minimum age to 10 now iirc

The "fun stuff" was calculating "partial pressures", bottom times, and finding the "in water" and "in chamber" decompression charts/times of tri-mix and heli-ox ---- we used math and charts back then--- now it's pretty much all done by computers and can be quickly calculated and even changed "on the fly"

BUT , I've gotten way off track from "boost o2 at altitude"--- sorry
That's a lot of great information, certainly no need to be sorry.
 
When I got certified, we did not know which program was going to takeoff Naui
image.jpg
or Padi so my course offered my certification for both and my instructor was Thomas Richardson, who ended up being president of Padi years later
 
Last edited:
When I got certified, we did not know which program was going to takeoff Naui View attachment 593581or Padi so my course offered my certification for both and my instructor was Thomas Richardson, who ended up being president of Padi years later
Your card says "padi"--- iirc there was a 3rd company around before either padi or naui, I can't remember the name right now though.
Scuba was my introduction to the underwater world-- I went on to get a degree in comercial diving and moved to using usn dive tables and partial pressures for the comercial Industry

Scuba diving is fun, comercial diving is work--- never knew you could sweat under water till I went to work in the gulf of Mexico.

When on vacations I go with my kids on "beginner dives" at the resorts sometimes ( they like to dive but never were interested enough to get certified)--- I always find it fun when the instructor/dive master says----"you look like you've done this before"
 
Your card says "padi"--- iirc there was a 3rd company around before either padi or naui, I can't remember the name right now though.
Scuba was my introduction to the underwater world-- I went on to get a degree in comercial diving and moved to using usn dive tables and partial pressures for the comercial Industry

Scuba diving is fun, comercial diving is work--- never knew you could sweat under water till I went to work in the gulf of Mexico.

When on vacations I go with my kids on "beginner dives" at the resorts sometimes ( they like to dive but never were interested enough to get certified)--- I always find it fun when the instructor/dive master says----"you look like you've done this before"
I haven't dove in over 20 years, but I would sure like to do it again. Everything was beat into my head. Just have not done it in a long time.
I do not know of the third organization at the time things were just taking off as mentioned. I have my card from Padi and somewhere I have a certificate from naui.
 
Anybody try it? Thoughts?
I confess to being tempted, but the science is weak supporting it, and both my personal and professional experience tend to agree.
1) If you're hypoxemic at baseline it will help. The standard for applying O2 to non hypoxemic cardiac patients has been debunked.
2) If you don't have enough hemoglobin you can't improve oxygenation with supplemental O2. Its why blood doping works if your heart is capable of it. Unless you're choosing to cheat at Tour De France bad idea. Even marginal hemoglobin will reduce exercise capacity. What was your last hemoglobin? Mine was pretty low, a couple of times, and couldn't do much without shortness of breath.
3) If work of breathing is high O2 consumption is up.
4) Certain disease states may benefit from supplemental O2, but last I checked COPD was the only group with "verified"
5) Improved muscle utilization from heart to tissue is where the most benefit will be seen.
6) If you're anything like me just muscle splinting (pain, anxiety,) made breathing a bit difficult at times. Supplying O2 to your legs when the rest of your body is demanding more will reduce exercise capacity.


Its an increased expense. Common use in the hospital was a lot to do with being well reimbursed.

I'll try to call, I've been thinking I need to, but it gets away from me. Sorry
 
If you're still young, I highly recommend learning to dive. Hunting sea bass in the kelp is just another kind of hunting. It is a whole new world. And night diving is awesome. Seeing a 4" diameter moray eel a foot in front of your face will get your air usage up quickly. It is kind of hard to back up with fins on.
 
Top