Electricity cuts

What happens if there's a power-cut in the middle of the night? Do these machines have alarms on or do we just hope we wake up?

MikeT,

You might want to purchase a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) unit from a computer supplier. These are battery units designed to provide short term power for computer systems to be properly shut down by the operator. You might have to do a little research on just how long they would continue to run a cpap in case of a power failure.

It would also be helpful in you had an audible alarm notifing (or waking) you in the event of a power failure. Maybe I should invent something like this and make a million dollars!!!

Good luck.

When a CPAP fails during sleep, the user will wake, often feeling like they are suffocating. The system fills with waste breaths. Never heard of anyone being harmed by a failure but it can be scary!

My ResMed Ultra Mirage FF mask has an "anti-asphyxia" valve which drops open when there is no pressure coming up the hose to hold it shut. You can hear it whoosh shut if you put the mask on and then start the machine.

We had a long power outage a while ago and my wife woke me up after a while. She says I went on sleeping for quite a while after the power went off and she thought maybe she should wake me up in case I was at risk of suffocating! The valve must open up enough to let you breathe comfortably even if there's no pressure from the machine. I guess you'd be rebreathing a bit, but a lot of what you exhale would get out the valve (and the vents) just like it gets out of your nose?! Didn't seem to do any damage to me - I hadn't even started snoring!!