Emergency CPAP supplies -- suggestions? (SF bay area)

I've just set out on a cross-country trip, and realized just now that I left the humidifier chamber for my Respironics M series at home -- I apparently forgot to replace it after emptying it out this morning.

As folks undoubtedly know, you can't attach a hose directly to the M without an adapter that's removed when using the humidifier. And my flight won't land until 9PM Saturday -- and all the medical supply places I can find on Google are closed on Sunday.


I would really rather not sleep without the machine for two nights. Does anyone have any suggestions for where or how I might buy a replacement chamber? I will be in San Francisco, but could go elsewhere in the Bay Area if need be.

Thanks!

Dan

Can't you detach the humidifier and use the machine without it? Might not be ideal, as far as comfort, but that would be better than going without. You may want to take a hot shower just before bed every night and as soon as you get up every morning to humidify your sinuses before and after.

jnk wrote:Can't you detach the humidifier and use the machine without it?

I think the problem is this:

dtremit wrote:As folks undoubtedly know, you can't attach a hose directly to the M without an adapter that's removed when using the humidifier.

He either needs the adapter, or he needs the chamber.


I think I would look at the humidifier and see if there is any way to rig up a connection inside of it between the two air ports.

Can you find a DME (Durable Medical Equipment) provider in the area who might have that adapter part or maybe even a hospital that could help you?

It's a long shot, but some Fire Departments/EMT's have cpaps they use on calls. They might know where to score some supplies. Firefighters are a severely under=utilized wealth of local info.

This post and several similar highlight one of the emergency issues people on xPAP therapy have. Even if you found a DME open at that time of night on a Saturday, they most likely would not have either of the parts you need in stock. They'd have to order it for you.


I guess we need to be able to take care of ourselves, until the time comes that you can buy xPAP machines off the shelf and the supply is more plentiful. Wouldn't it be nice if some compassionate soul in SF would be willing to loan the OP the adapter for the week-end?

dtremit wrote:As folks undoubtedly know, you can't attach a hose directly to the M without an adapter that's removed when using the humidifier. And my flight won't land until 9PM Saturday -- and all the medical supply places I can find on Google are closed on Sunday.

Dan,

This is a huge bummer. I have heard that it is possible to connect the hose to the machine using duct tape. A 24 hour Walmart ought to have duct tape. I have never attempted this, so I might be all wet on this possibility.

Another thought is that some Home Depots and Lowes are open 24 hours. I would think that there is at least a chance that you could cobble something together using parts from the plumbing isle.

Finally, most hospital pharmacies are open on Sunday, and some are open 24 hrs a day. If anyone might have supplies for a CPAP machine on a weekend, that might be a place to check.

-john-

This happened to someone else, a few months ago:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47356&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... er+adaptor

No offense meant by this.....I made a trip once and didn't pack my machine. I thought that I had one in the RV I got to where I was going. Sure enough I had the spare machine but it quit working on me that night. I now always carry two machines with me no matter where I am going.

Thanks for all the replies, folks.

Turns out the hose fits onto the inlet for the humidifier tank /inside/ the humidifier compartment. But I think the machine must make some sort of compensation for the water tank -- the exhalation pressure is way too high. I went into the settings and dialed it as low as it could be set, and tried turning off auto, but no dice. Frustrating to say the least.

Well you were able to get it working. When I travel in my RV I only run my Bi-Pap machine on 12vdc. When we go to hotels I use the 120 v plug. I don't use my humidifier although I have 2 of them. The one for my M-series in the RV and stand alone humidifier. For my Bi-Pap at home. There is also a humidifier still in the box with my spare machine.
I know that sounds like over kill but when I travel I always have 2 machines and all of the other goodies that go with it .

An update, if anyone is interested -- I made it to Monday without an issue, and tried hard to find a humidifier chamber locally -- tried about six different DMEs, and none had the part in stock. So I will be doing without for another night. Placed an order for a new chamber from cpap.com; they had the shipment out the door in an hour, and I'll receive it tomorrow at my hotel.

On the upside, I learned how to enable leak rate and AHI data on the machine's screen, so that will be a help going forward.

Was really kind of dumbstruck by how unhelpful the local Apria office was -- they transferred me around about four times before somebody told me they wouldn't sell me anything if I wasn't an existing patient, and proceeded to refer me to a DME that didn't carry any CPAP products at all.

Need to think about getting a second machine at some point...at the very least, if I had a separate travel machine, I could leave everything together and packed, with less chance of leaving anything behind!

Thanks to everyone here for the advice...though this is my first thread, I've benefitted from a lot of reading here over the past 18 months on therapy.

Dan

Ran into this problem recently in northern california. APRIA is open til 5:00 on Saturdays.

I don't usually resurrect old threads but I think this one is important. I just had this happen. I flew across country and realized I had neglected to pack my CPAP machine. I got in to Boston at 9:30 pm on Saturday. I had to go that night without sleep but then next day I found one on Craigslist. Craigslist is a great source for emergency CPAP supplies.

Does anyone have suggestions on where to get emergency Cpap supplies? Any information would be very helpful. I think it would be beneficial if ERs carried extra masks for emergency situations. For many of us, our Cpap can be a life of death situation. To fall asleep without it is to risk not waking up. I find this so frustrating. Even with one day shipping I have no way to sleep tonight or tomorrow.