Home Health & Hospice Week

Feds OK O2 concentrators for air travel.

The Federal Aviation Administration is making life easier for airline travelers and oxygen suppliers at the same time.

The boon to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other conditions that make them dependent on portable oxygen also gives a boost to companies that make and supply certain high-tech oxygen equipment.

The FAA will allow passengers to use certain portable oxygen concentrator devices on aircraft providing the passengers follow certain conditions, such as not blocking emergency exits. Published in the July 12 Federal Register, the rule becomes effective Aug. 11.

The FAA's decision is the culmination of years of work by the respiratory home care industry to raise awareness about the difficulties of flying with oxygen.

The rule specifically addresses POCs made by AirSep Corp. of Buffalo, NY, and Santa Barbara, CA-based Inogen Inc. The companies have developed small POCs that filter nitrogen from the air and provide the user with oxygen at about a 90 percent concentration.

The federal government has determined that these POCs are not hazardous materials and do not require the same level of special handling as highly flammable compressed oxygen.

POC devices "have undergone extensive testing to ensure they do not interfere with aircraft procedures during takeoff, in the air or at landing, nor should their operation disrupt other passengers," says Inogen CEO Kathy Odell. "What they do provide is worry-free travel for oxygen patients."

Prior to the new rule, airline travel for oxygen users was fraught with difficulty. Patients were not allowed to bring their own oxygen tanks aboard aircraft, not every airline rented oxygen tanks and those that did often charged prices equal to the cost of another seat.

Generic POC Standards to Come

A regulation that specifies a particular product is "exceptionally rare," the FAA acknowledges. "However, we believe such an approach is appropriate in this case until such time that a performance-based standard can be developed because the rule accommodates individuals who would otherwise be unable to fly," it states in the rule.

The FAA first published the proposed regulation for comment last July (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XIII, No. 27). Many commenters - including Inogen, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the National Home Oxygen Patients Association - requested that the FAA not limit POCs by specific brand. The FAA agrees that future rulemaking should include generic standards that all POCs would be required to meet.

But for now, the current rule is "the quickest way to enable the use of these two devices by passengers who have a medical need to continue to receive oxygen therapy during their air travel," the FAA says.

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), an outspoken advocate on the POC issue, praises the new regulation. "It allows millions of Americans suffering from COPD and other diseases to take to the skies unburdened with the current onerous regulations and cost," Crapo says. "I strongly urge the major airlines to immediately respect this large population of potential air travelers and permit these POCs onboard." 

Note: The rule is at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a050712c.html.