Volume 8, Number 6     November/December 2000

KSC Innovation Transferred to U.S. Air Force

The Medevac Oxygen System (MOS), currently deployed aboard U.S. military aircraft at the Space Shuttle Transatlantic Abort Landing sites, is now an emergency tool for the U.S. Air Force.

The Medevac Oxygen System developed by NASA Kennedy Space Center is now an emergency tool for the U.S. Air Force. Photo provided by Kennedy Space Center.

The MOS, developed by NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Biomedical Office, is now being used by the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command through an intergovernmental technology transfer. The transfer was completed due to the work of the KSC Technology Counselor, working with the KSC Technology Programs and Commercialization Office.

Lew Parrish, KSC's technology counselor with the Southern Technology Applications Center (STAC), started working on the transfer in September 1998, after receiving an inquiry from the Chief, In-Flight Medical Equipment, 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Ramstein Air Base in Germany, regarding the MOS technology.

The MOS sounded similar to the Therapeutic Oxygen Manifold System (TOMS) currently used on USAF C-141 aeromedical evacuation missions. Parrish was told the supplier of the TOMS units had gone out of business, making the purchase of new TOMS units or replacement parts impossible. Seeing a potential need for the MOS, Parrish initiated a chain of contacts within the Air Force that eventually led to Master Sergeant David C. Hudson, manager of aeromedical equipment research and acquisition in the Office of the Command Surgeon at Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

Parrish worked closely with Barry Slack, the NASA/KSC innovator of this system, to obtain one of the MOS kits and all documentation needed to successfully transfer the system to the Air Force. Hudson visited KSC to see the system and meet the innovator. He was pleased with the kit, and advised it should indeed solve the problems the Air Force was having with the TOMS. He formally requested a transfer of the technology to the Air Force.

Slack, a member of the NASA Biomedical Engineering Office at KSC, designed the MOS after an inspection was conducted of the Space Shuttle Transatlantic Landing (TAL) site medical resources. Not all of the USAF C-130 astronaut medevac planes had the capacity to handle more than three patients. Shuttle crews are normally larger, so Slack decided a new system was needed. After research, and with expert advice from pararescuers from Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, the newly designed MOS was born.

The system is designed to provide a therapeutic oxygen supply to patients being flown aboard the C-130 aircraft during a long haul medevac scenario.

Each MOS can supply up to four patients and systems can be joined sequentially. The C-130 provides a source of gaseous oxygen at approximately 400 pounds per square inch (psi) from its onboard liquid oxygen supply. The pressure of the gaseous oxygen is reduced to 50 psi by a regulator for distribution to each patient station. A flow controller and humidifier are provided at each station. The assembly can be attached to the litter or other patient-carrying device. The output from the humidifier connects to a non-rebreathing mask. The entire system is packed and stored in a durable, plastic, waterproof case that is divided and padded to prevent damage during storage and transport.

Although originally designed to meet requirements of the Space Shuttle program, this Medevac Oxygen System can meet needs for patient oxygen delivery on a variety of airborne and surface platforms. A supply of gaseous oxygen at greater than 100 psi is required. On this system, a standard litter stanchion attachment fitting is used to secure the regulator, but other methods could be easily fitted. The most common application may be the Hercules C-130 aircraft, which is found in the inventory of 64 countries worldwide.

Use aboard combat transport aircraft such as the C-141 and C-5 aircraft, as well as various helicopters, is envisioned. Use aboard the C-130 aircraft, especially the new C-130 J and X models that will be incorporating a new liquid oxygen system capable of supporting 25 litter patients, is also planned. The Air Force also intends to brief both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy on the MOS system for incorporation of the technology in their aircraft.

For more information, contact Thomas Gould at Kennedy Space Center. Call: 321/867-6238, E-mail: Thomas.Gould-1@ksc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

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