Have a CPAP ready to go for Hospital ER

[SleepyCPAP]

Hi all,

I have one of my PRS1 CPAPs as a spare now that I’m using the used ResMed that I got in July. I keep that PRS1 packed up, ready to use.

That came in handy recently, as I felt like I was having a heart attack. Grab and go (also grabbed my cell phone charger and my O2Ring pulse ox). In fact I was having a heart attack, and was staying in the hospital after they treated me. The ICU nurse said I was very wise to have brought my own machine, as they are not well equipped at the hospital at the moment (maybe due to so many COVID admissions, maybe because recall has taken some of their stock out of commission).

So… if you have a spare, have it ready.

I wore the O2Ring as I arrived at the hospital. It gave me a time stamp for when I got there, until they made me take it off when I was being rolled to the operating room. I can see my high heart rate during that period before the ER-room meds were kicking in.

I didn’t have my laptop, but it was brought to me the next day.

A Cardiologist came to my room before discharge, and noticed I was looking at OSCAR from the night before (AHI was 5.6, not good). He said it was good I was paying attention, because I’m not supposed to stress my heart, and OSA is a definite stressor. I’ve got severe OSA so if I’d been without my machine I would have been even worse.

I’m going to be fine. It was a minor heart attack, and I acted quickly. I’ll do cardiac rehab, and have a slew of new meds to take.

I think I’m going to keep my old pulse ox in the travel bag, and a spare phone charger. I don’t want to go to the hospital again, but I’m prepared if it happens. I thought I had the bag prepared just for bad weather (a run to a safe area of the house, and PRS1 has the cord to run off battery backup).

Just wanted to leave this advice for others. Would you (or someone in your home) know to grab your PAP machine, and would it be ready to travel? I’m very glad I had my backup always packed and ready.

[zonker]

Just wanted to leave this advice for others. Would you (or someone in your home) know to grab your PAP machine, and would it be ready to travel? I’m very glad I had my backup always packed and ready.

and good advice it is. always have it with your "go bag" and you'll be golden.

also, one should be sure to USE your backup every now and then, just to be sure it's still working properly.

[palerider]

So… if you have a spare, have it ready.

One should have a spare of everything, including the cpap, and like you say, it should be packed and ready to grab, whether on vacation, or an evacuation order, or a call to 911. EMS has never had a problem transporting it.

[HoseCrusher]

Glad to hear you are doing well. I hope you mend quickly.

[bierhere]

Difficult to keep a backup just for the hospital, but having said that, I've made 4-5 ER visits over the past 20 years due to Crohn's disease and have almost always brought my CPAP with me, just in case I get admitted. In my case, the one thing I could probably use is a mask that would work with an NG tube, since almost every admission has started with one of those and in past trips the hospital really hasn't had a way to address my needs. I often times find the inpatient staff/nurses/doctors are not familiar with CPAP which is quite surprising or not prepared to deal with patient who have one.

[palerider]

[quote=bierhere post_id=1393743 time=1630696753 user_id=86503In my case, the one thing I could probably use is a mask that would work with an NG tube,
[/quote]
I used a FFM when I had a NG tube. it leaked a bunch, but it worked.