Hello Baz,
There is a solution no one has yet suggested, and that is to negotiate an arrangement to acquire medical oxygen through a hospital. There a three ways to approach it:
1. Any private hospital. They are run as a business and whether they can make money on over-charging for car parking or make some money flogging oxygen, one or more should be interested. Only problem would be how much they will want to charge and whether it will be economic for you.
2. Major Public Hospital. Government funding is always tight, so they can do with some extra cash. Only problem is they may be a bit bureaucratic and inflexible. Best would be one with a hyperbaric chamber as they may some staff more sympathetic to your plight.
3. Approach a medical practitioner about the health risks of making divers use industrial gas for diving as suppliers have stopped supply of medical grade. Get a referral to hospital facility as a preventative measure to avoid health risks from exposure to industrial oxygen. With a certificate, hospital should only charge cost of providing oxygen. Problem is they may only give you a C cylinder and ask you to come back when its empty.
You may think the above suggestions silly, but where practical, medical practitioners do have a responsibility to help prevent an illness rather than just fix someone after a problem arises. So hospital medical staff should be supportive of a hospital facilitating access to oxygen rather than forcing diving addicts to source potentially unsafe oxygen supplies. Much like the safe-injecting rooms harm-minimizing strategies for another class of addicts.
Regards,
Tony
