STANAG 2558

STANAG 2558 minimum standards for oxygen 93 per cent produced on operations

National authorities and NATO bodies that ratify and implement NATO standardization agreements covering medical oxygen production on operations

STANAG 2558 is NATO's agreement covering AMedP-8.17, under which ratifying nations commit to a uniform, safe minimum standard for oxygen 93 per cent produced on operations, reviewed at least once every three years.

Edition: 1
Published: 2017-06-23

What it is

STANAG 2558 is a NATO Standardization Agreement, not a technical specification in its own right. It is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement a publication, and here that publication is AMedP-8.17, Edition A. The STANAG itself is short: a letter of promulgation, the agreement to implement, and the machinery for ratification, implementation and review. The substance, the actual minimum standards for producing oxygen 93 per cent, lives in AMedP-8.17, which has its own record.

The interoperability problem it answers

The agreement responds to a stated interoperability requirement: to define the minimum standards for oxygen 93 per cent produced on operations. It is meant to contribute "to enhance the effectiveness of NATO forces when conducting joint operations, through the adoption of a uniform and safe level of production of oxygen 93 per cent for medical life-support applications" and "to facilitate the exchange of medical oxygen 93 per cent bottles between member nations." Neither the production process nor any purity, pressure or test figure beyond the 93 per cent named in the title is printed in this cover; that detail sits in AMedP-8.17.

What ratifying nations commit to

Participating nations agree to implement "the following standard": AMedP-8.17, Edition A. They also agree "to use AMedP-8.17 as a manual for minimum standards for oxygen 93 per cent produced during field operations," and agree that "the installations for the production of oxygen 93 per cent during field operations shall meet the minimum requirements detailed in this AMedP-8.17." Their ratification and implementation decisions are recorded by NATO in the NATO Standardization Document Database, not restated here. Partner nations are separately invited to adopt the STANAG. This is Edition 1, and the cover states plainly that it "does not supersede any document."

How it takes effect and is reviewed

A STANAG does not bind a supplier directly. It is "effective upon receipt and ready to be used by the implementing Nations and NATO bodies", meaning a nation's own instructions, or a contract that invokes AMedP-8.17, are what actually create a requirement for an organisation to meet. Nations report their effective implementation using the form in Annex H to AAP-03(J); partner nations use Annex G of the same publication. The STANAG "is to be reviewed at least once every three years", and any nation or NATO body can propose a change at any time to the tasking authority for processing at the next review. The tasking authority is named in the cover by its abbreviations, MCMedSB and MedStd; the custodian named is Germany, with a panel abbreviated MMMP.

How we help

STANAG 2558 is the agreement, not the specification, so there is nothing in it to build software around. Where a nation's orders or a contract require AMedP-8.17, the work is physical and procedural: running production installations to a uniform minimum standard, holding the records that show they were checked, and training the people who operate them. ComplyTrain does not operate, test or certify oxygen-production installations itself.

What ComplyTrain does support is the paperwork trail an organisation needs once that requirement is live: the documented procedures for producing and handling medical oxygen, the training records for staff who operate the installations, and the audit trail showing the procedure was followed. That is the same kind of evidence any operational NATO publication requires, held in one auditable place rather than scattered across local files.

Which tier of this agreement applies to a given contract, and whether AMedP-8.17 is invoked at all, is set by the tasking authority and the customer's own quality clause, not by us. See the standards explorer for what sits alongside this agreement, and talk to us about how to evidence the standards a contract actually names.

Standards it references

STANAG 2121Background
AMedP-1.19Background
STANAG 1458Background
ADivP-04Background
STANAG 3198Background
AAMedP-1.3Background

Questions

Is STANAG 2558 mandatory?

Only once a ratifying nation's own instructions or a contract require it. A STANAG binds the nation that ratifies it; it reaches a supplier through a national order or a contract clause that invokes AMedP-8.17, not by existing on its own.

What is the difference between STANAG 2558 and AMedP-8.17?

STANAG 2558 is the agreement: the ratification, implementation and review machinery. AMedP-8.17 is the Allied Medical Publication the agreement puts into force, and it is where the minimum standards for producing oxygen 93 per cent are actually set out.

Can a company be certified to STANAG 2558?

No. The document describes no certification scheme. It is an agreement between nations, implemented through national orders and reported back to NATO, not something an organisation is audited or certified against.

What edition is current, and what changed?

Edition 1, promulgated 23 June 2017, is current. The cover states that it "does not supersede any document."

Does this cover give the actual purity or production requirements for oxygen 93 per cent?

No. It names the interoperability requirement and the standard that answers it, but the minimum production requirements themselves are set out in AMedP-8.17, not in this cover.