When I first saw the System O2 by O2 Solutions oxygen generation system, I thought it was a "neat" product and decided to add it to my product offering at FirstResponderSupplies.com. I bought a demo unit for me personally in my role as a local Fire Department First Responder.On August 21, 2001, I found out firsthand just how neat of a product it is. About 2:00 in the morning I was awaken with a horrible itching that began to spread over my entire torso. I awaken my wife, Annie, an ex-nurse to alert her that I had a problem. I noticed that bumps and whelps were breaking out all over my torso and extremities. Annie said I looked very pale, like a ghost. She gave me a couple of Benadryl to help counteract the itching, and suggested that she take me to the hospital.
The muscles in my throat began constricting and I was having trouble breathing. I told Annie to go get my "green bag" (the O2 system) out of the car. While I am standing there itching and trying to keep the fear down, she is reading the instructions on how to use the system. In a few minutes she's sliding the face mask over my mouth and nose, and I'm inhaling cool, clean, fresh O2. It felt good and my fear of not being able to breath subsided.
To finish the story, she took me to the local hospital (a 20 minute drive away) and they gave me a shot of cortisone. In about 30 minutes everything was under control and I was released. By the next morning the bumps were almost completely gone and by the end of the day, there was no trace of them.
I still don't know what caused me to have the anaphylactic reaction, but I suspect that I may have been bitten by a spider in my bed. I don't have any known allergies to medicines or other insect stings.
You just can't imagine how if feels to have your ability to breath diminishing. Fortunately, I had time to do something about it. I can't say that the O2 system saved my life, it may have; but it definitely helped get my fear under control as I began to inhale that cool, clean, fresh oxygen.
Byron Kirkwood, Owner B&A Products and FirstResponderSupplies