Can you get shocked while sleeping on CPAP

I live in a part of the country where there are many thunderstorms which have lightning. Can anyone get electrocuted while sleeping on a CPAP or a BIPAP machine during an electrical storm? I am using a machine with an integrated humidifier with a water chamber filled with distilled water. As a rule if the weather is very bad here during the night I don't use my CPAP; I do without. I had a licensed electrician install a grounded electrical outlet behind my bed years ago when I first started using CPAP because my home was built back in the 60's when grounded electrical outlets weren't installed everywhere in the home; only in the utility room; kitchen area and the bathrooms. My CPAP machine is plugged into a heavy duty surge protector which I have plugged into the grounded electrical outlet behind my bed. On nights when the weather is bad as a precaution I always remove the power cord from the back of the CPAP machine which I have sitting on an end table next to my bed then I also reach down behind the bed and kill the surge protector. Has anyone ever heard of anyone getting electrocuted while sleeping on a CPAP or a BIPAP machine during an electrical storm?


Stevoreno_55
MS Gulf Coast
06/04/14

There's always a first time.
Just my opinion, but the survival odds are worse
when sleeping without cpap for any reason.

I never worry about the "what ifs" of things; life is too short as it is, and I'd rather enjoy my time on earth than spend it worrying about things that may never happen. I agree with Chunkyfrog. I don't know where this saying comes from, but I wholeheartedly believe in it: don't borrow trouble until trouble comes to you"... but if it makes you feel better to unplug everything, then do that.

Do you have a battery pack for power outages and camping? Maybe with that, you could switch over to it so you could continue with the machine for the rest of the night. Just be sure that it always has a full charge.

I am more concerned about losing power than getting zapped. As a result I have a back-up battery (actually, 2 of them) that I will switch to if there are thunderstorms in the area when I go to bed or if i wake because of a power outage. I cannot use the heating on the humidifier (pass-through is fine), but I don't do that very often anyway. Far better than sleeping without the CPAP. I have gotten my AHI down below 1 on the machine, but I am not expecting it to be significantly improved from the 30 I started with before CPAP so I am sure I would have hypoxia problems the morning after the no-cpap sleep.

As FDR said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Fear prevents us from acting to protect ourselves and others,
from treating injuries and illness, and from seeking safety.
It is the destructive alternative to respect and knowledge.
Panic is a kind of death.

there is little or no chance of your getting shocked from your machine during a lightning storm

I suggest you look into using a power strip with surge protection for your machine to plug into. You can use the same ones used for your computer.

it's not 100% protection, but it'll help protect your machine from lightning. It'll give you some comfort until you can decide on a back up power system.

Dave

As far as I know, the only way in which you are connected to your CPAP is via a non-conducting plastic hose filled with non-conducting air. I don't think you are any more likely to receive an electrical shock from your CPAP in the event of a lightening strike than you are directly from an outlet through the air.

And if your house is properly grounded there are much better paths for electricity to follow to the ground than through your body.

Denial Dave wrote:there is little or no chance of your getting shocked from your machine during a lightning storm

I suggest you look into using a power strip with surge protection for your machine to plug into. You can use the same ones used for your computer.

it's not 100% protection, but it'll help protect your machine from lightning. It'll give you some comfort until you can decide on a back up power system.

Dave

Dave:

I have my CPAP machine plugged into a heavy duty computer rated surge protector which is plugged into a dedicated electrical outlet behind my bed which is rated for 15 amps. I had the electrical outlet installed behind my bed after I started CPAP therapy in 1999 because the bedrooms in this house did not have grounded outlets at that time but they do now.


Stevoreno_55
MS Gulf Coast
06/04/14

library lady wrote:I never worry about the "what ifs" of things; life is too short as it is, and I'd rather enjoy my time on earth than spend it worrying about things that may never happen. I agree with Chunkyfrog. I don't know where this saying comes from, but I wholeheartedly believe in it: don't borrow trouble until trouble comes to you"... but if it makes you feel better to unplug everything, then do that.

Do you have a battery pack for power outages and camping? Maybe with that, you could switch over to it so you could continue with the machine for the rest of the night. Just be sure that it always has a full charge.

Library Lady:

After Hurricane Katrina nearly devasted my area I decided to have a whole house generator system installed; about 40 others in my neighborhood did so too so when the power goes out the unit immediately switches over to natural gas in less than 60 seconds; when the electricity comes back on the generator shuts off; it sure is nice to have now that it's beginning to get hot down here. The NWS is forecasting 90's here this weekend but I've already been running my central AC since late April.


Stevoreno_55
MS Gulf Coast
06/04/14

Gee, I thought Stevereno might be referring to the possibility that a heated hose, as it has electricity going through it, might be the recipient of the shock, which somehow might go through the plastic of the hose, and. . . Steve what R U grounded to when on xPAP?

FEAR lives on.

If you sleep inside and don't hold onto a barbed-wire fence, you will probably be OK. I learned this the hard way.

DeadlySleep, did it help or hurt your apnea? I am sure it hurt like heck! The other part of that should be don't stand under a tree. However, a former landlord had his house struck by lightning twice - in the same storm! So I am not sure that staying inside is safe for everyone either!

Thanks for the replies. I'll be leaving soon to go to the lab for my titration; I hope everything goes good tonight. One thing I won't have to worry about is bad weather because none is in tonight's forecast.


Stevoreno_55
MS Gulf Coast
06/04/14

chunkyfrog wrote:As FDR said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Fear prevents us from acting to protect ourselves and others,
from treating injuries and illness, and from seeking safety.
It is the destructive alternative to respect and knowledge.
Panic is a kind of death.

+1

chunkyfrog wrote:As FDR said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Fear prevents us from acting to protect ourselves and others,
from treating injuries and illness, and from seeking safety.
It is the destructive alternative to respect and knowledge.
Panic is a kind of death.

F.E.A.R.

False Evidence Appearing Real