The Oxy-Viva has been available in Australia since the 1960s. The Oxy-viva 4 has been redesigned by CIG Health Care with advice from Murray Hunter of Design + Industry, not from necessity to introduce any new technology, but simply to update the image of the product and 'tidy it up'. The external contours are curved for ease of cleaning, handling and comfort when sat upon. The overall effect is a distinctive and attractive unit, which won and Australian Design Award in 1992 with the additional accolade of the Powerhouse Museum Selection. The accompanying prototypes and drawings document the design process.

The new materials and colour of the Oxy-viva 4 are meant to reduce its 'sterile' and 'agricultural' appearance, as well as providing more functional advantages. The image change makes it more distinctive and 'friendly' to the professionals and lay people who encounter it. As well as being more 'friendly' the high tech features should instil more confidence on the part of lay observers.

The Oxy-viva 4 resuscitation unit represents innovation in redesigning a mature product to present a more modern image. Other features such as changing from stainless steel to rotationally moulded plastic with foam filling provide for easier cleaning, flotation and enough rigidity to allow the unit to be sat upon, are secondary, rather than primary, to the updated design.

Designed by CIG Health Care/Design+Industry Pty Ltd, Made by CIGWELD/Rotadyne Plastics Pty Ltd.

The case is made in four parts, from rotationally moulded high density polyethylene with foam-filled plastic walls, by Rotadyne, St Mary's, Sydney. It encloses a self-contained oxygen module assembled into a stainless steel chassis, made by CIGWELD in Melbourne.

Gift of the manufacturer.

The Oxy-Viva 4 is targeted at industrial occupational health and safety markets. It was launched into the market in 1993 and intended for sale in Australia and other Pacific countries with a retail value of $1500 to $2400 depending on accessories included with the unit.

Anecdotal reports from 2005 indicate that the Oxy-Viva 4 did not spend long in the market - in the ambulance and paramedics area it was replaced with a soft backpack device. In other areas the stainless steel Oxy-viva 3 was still the most widely used gas powered resuscitator. In 2006 the Oxy-Viva 4 was not made or sold by CIGWELD.

Portable resuscitator, Oxy-Viva 4, metal/plastic, CIG Health Care/Design & Industry Pty Ltd/CIGWELD/Rotadyne Plastics Pty Ltd, Australia, 1993

A portable Oxy-Viva 4 resuscitator consisting of a rectangular blue plastic case with strips of red and white striped tape on either side. The base of the case has a cylindrical space where an oxygen cylinder could be inserted. The curved lid of the case features a moulded handle. The lid is hinged on either side and opens down the middle with two black plastic and metal clasps. Inside the case are various compartments containing connection tubes, oxygen masks, an instruction book and a strap for the case.

Designed: CIG Health Care; ; 1993

Designed: Design and Industry Pty Ltd; ; 1993

Made: CIGWELD; Sydney; 1993

Made: Rotadyne Plastics Pty Ltd; Sydney; 1993

93/304/2

1993