Portable concentrator gets nod for use on airlines
By HME News Staff
Updated Sun July 18, 2004
July 19, 2004
WASHINGTON - AirSep's Lifestyle portable oxygen concentrator has been given initial clearance for take-off on airlines in a proposed rule just issued by the FAA. The rule, published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 14, authorizes the Lifestyle as suitable for use on airlines after a two-year review.
In the Federal Register rule, the agency called the unit “the only device determined to be safe” for travel on airlines at this point, but Inogen's Inogen One concentrator is also being evaluated for use. If the new guidelines are passed, patients will be able board the plane with the AirSep concentrator and use it during flight.
Although the Federal Register proposal calls the designation “an important step” in sanctioning the use of portable oxygen concentrators on planes, “the FAA must still make an independent determination whether the devices pose a hazard in aviation.”
Oxygen travel advocates like Tim Arceneaux are encouraged by the news.
“This sounds awesome,” said Arceneaux, vice president of sales and operations for Littleton Respiratory Homecare, Wilmington, Ohio. “It will liberate a lot of traveling oxygen patients. It will encourage them to get out more and enjoy life.”
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