Rough Night - Ramp Situation Reviewed

[LoQ]

The reason for this is that oxygen may accumulate within the flow generator and can create a risk for fire. I'm not sure if using a oxygen concentrator makes a difference

Oxygen is oxygen.

oxygen delivered by the concentrator uses room air and the oxygen content is not flammable as in tanks under pressure and I think with a higher O2 content

Well, first, oxygen is not flammable under any circumstances you are likely to encounter in your home. Perhaps it is flammable on the surface of a star? I suppose every element is "flammable" there.

Oxygen is, however, an accelerant. That means if you have a fire, it's going to be a LOT worse in the presense of a higher concentration of oxygen.


I agree that having oxygen under pressure presents a potentially bigger problem; however, I believe that all oxygen tanks must have a regulator of some sort before you can use them. Unless you are talking about a fire that would cause the tank to explode, I'm not sure there's much of a difference. Please note that once you have a fire going, it's not really going to matter how it got there, you need to put it out, or get out and call the FD.


And yes, most of the time an oxygen tank produces a higher concentration of O2 than you get from a concentrator, but not enough to matter. The one difference I really see that might be a factor is that if you have a fire, it might be a little easier to get the concentrator to quit putting out oxygen than the tank if the fire is near the O2 source. You could pull the plug on the concentrator, you could trip the circuit breaker, etc. With the oxygen tank, you probably have to get to the regulator. My guess is that the regulator is built to shut off at temps above some point, but I am just saying how *I* would build it, not how it's actually built. Engineers are generally smarter than I am, though, so it's a pretty good bet they thought of that.


Bottom line: you need to be just as cautious with concentrator-produced oxygen as you are with oxygen from a bottle.

[Madalot]

The Ramp was a great idea to try, but it won't work. It won't let me set it higher than 6.0, which is out of the question for me.

I really appreciate the ideas that have been suggested. I was pretty hopeful about the Ramp, but alas, it was not meant to be.

I'm still hung up on this ramp question. If there's a ramp feature that is similar to that of other machines,there should be a way to set it higher, after all, everyone's comfort level is different, but maybe it's been locked or something? Can you investigate further? In the situation you describe ramp might be a good solution for you. Hope you get this solved soon.

I was surprised, too, but the highest it will let me start the ramp is 6.0, which is my exhale pressure. I guess I could play with the timing more and see if that would allow it to be set higher. I had the ramp set at the lowest possible time, but it wouldn't allow the start pressure any higher.

I have full access to all features and menus, thank goodness. I may look at it again before going to bed tonight, but I think I looked pretty carefully the other day.

If I missed something, I'll post a correction in here. To the best of my knowledge and what I saw the other day, it makes me start the ramp at 6.0.

[Madalot]

I decided to check and report right away so I wouldn't forget.

I double checked the ramp -- it will not let me set the starting pressure any higher than 6.0. And the lowest time frame was either 4 or 6 minutes.

I would say the ramp feature is not as flexible on a ventilator as it is on a cpap or bipap machine. My guess would be that most people on a ventilator wouldn't use the ramp anyway and it was put on the machine so that it could say it has a ramp.

It's too bad, too, because that would have been a great solution for me. Fast and easy.

[Madalot]

Bottom line: you need to be just as cautious with concentrator-produced oxygen as you are with oxygen from a bottle.

I tend to agree with this. Unless I'm told differently that an oxygen concentrator doesn't pose the same danger, I am going to assume that it does. Better to err on the side of caution than to risk an unfortunate outcome.

[chunkyfrog]

Gee whiz; you would think they could come up with a remote control for people with mobility problems!
Best wishes, Madalot. Saying a little prayer for you. Happy new year.

[Madalot]

Gee whiz; you would think they could come up with a remote control for people with mobility problems!
Best wishes, Madalot. Saying a little prayer for you. Happy new year.

Thank you! Yeah, you'd think, but to be fair, I think a large majority of people on these machines aren't as mobil as I am. I have serious issues, but CAN walk a little bit and move around some. I think a lot of people that are in similar shape as I am can use a bipap machine and not require a ventilator.

I'm thinking there may be a way to reprogram the vent to lower the pressure more quickly once I wake up. Or perhaps use different settings to alleviate this problem.

I HATE waking up at 4am with the pressure at 23, blowing the mask off my face, and having to wait such a long time while it slowly steps the pressure back down. There's got to be a better way.

So, I'm going to ask about it. The problem is getting to the person that knows. I can be pretty determined so I'll get an answer eventually.

[Madalot]

It happened again last night. Woke up to high pressure and turned the screen saver off. It was blasting me around 22. I debated turning the machine off and back on, but thought about the oxygen and decided not to.

Got to get busy today making some calls and writing some emails.