Moved wing in hospital, transported cpap by staff

I was afraid this was going to happen, When I arrived at the hospital for surgery i unpacked the Airsense 10 and filled the tank. After I had finished surgery i ended up in the wing to be monitored and told staff i wanted my cpap. They called the old wing to have it transported, I tried to get a word in with the person who made the call, that it needed to be emptied of water, and was told, -"they know what they are doing". When the cpap arrives in the bag at the new wing and I am somewhat cohearent the bag is soaked in water, machine is very wet.

It powers on ok and seem to have pressure, but the humidifier part of it, im not so sure thats ok. is my machine ok? how do i know?

Pour out what you can, then set the machine in a box, bowl, pile of rice to absorb the water. Then cross your fingers - it should be OK, but hard to predict of course.

One time I was kept for observation & I brought a machine with me but they wouldn't allow me to use it since they had no "environmental specialist" to certify it for use in their facility. They had one of theirs ready to go. Used my mask, no one cared about that I guess.

See if they can provide a machine if you're concerned, I can't imagine they wouldn't have one. Also see if they will admit what they did and pay for use of theirs for the night.

BTW the environmental inspection was b.s., another time at that facility the "inspector" guy just looked the machine over and slapped an "approved" sticker on it, ostensibly since it was clean looking and had a plug on it? And they billed me for two days during that first episode when i used their machine. Apparently the billing machine re-sets at midnight. Retail price was something like $300/day, ludicrous.

NEVER let anyone else touch your cpap with water in the tank.
Not even some family!
Put water in a sealed bottle, and keep it separate from your machine.
Because idiots are everywhere.

Thanks for the replies, u all.

In Sweden, if you need extras, you need to bring it yourself. All hospitals I have been at do not provide cpap. Staff is not even trained in assembling the unit, I need to tell them how to do it, eqally nervous each time, they will break something, not softhanded staff. Also, if there was a macine to borrow, its down to pressuresettings and a clean mask the patient is used to.

I have no means of drying it here at the hospital, just keep my fingers crossed it will survive the treatment, as I did, this time.

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 13, 2023 6:21 pm

Pour out what you can, then set the machine in a box, bowl, pile of rice to absorb the water. Then cross your fingers - it should be OK, but hard to predict of course.

To add to this good advice, I'd say - unplug and leave unplugged as long as you can. Disassemble to the extent possible (eg, remove the reservoir), open any covers or flaps. You want to get as much air 'through' it as possible. You really want to dry it out thoroughly (even though it 'works' (turns on) now, there could be a bead of water that will short out a circuit when it moves). Put it in the path of a fan, if possible.

The previous poster's idea above is to surround the device with rice, which acts as a desiccant to absorb any moisture - just make sure you don't get rice lodged in any small openings. Some people even suggest putting it in an oven at VERY low temperature to speed up the drying (with the rice there to capture any moisture). Good Luck!

lasseponken wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 13, 2023 6:54 pm

In Sweden, if you need extras, you need to bring it yourself. All hospitals I have been at do not provide cpap. Staff is not even trained in assembling the unit,

That's because those are home machines.
I know (theoretical knowledge...) that hospital ventilators can be set to function as bi-level Positive Air Pressure machines, assume they can be set up as fixed presssure PAP machines too. And this is done by staff trained to do that on the hospital machines.
PAP is not invasive ventilation.
If you don't have a functioning machine, maybe a medical prescription can help them (make them?) setup a ventilator to function as a Positive Air Pressure machine only? They may of course decide, as part of triage, that the ventilator machines are needed elsewhere.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 13, 2023 6:52 pm

NEVER let anyone else touch your cpap with water in the tank.

If at all possible, I would not leave my machine unattended with water in the humidifier. And yes, that does mean asking someone to empty the humidifier when the machine is not in use, and fill if you're incapable of doing that.

And,
Put water in a sealed bottle, and keep it separate from your machine.

Agreed.
For all us:
There are many reasons for hospitalization, sometimes we can't user our hand / hands.
Which is why, If at all possible, try to teach a friend, or a family member - or a friendly staff member - how to handle your humidifier. With a friend or family member, it's best done ahead of time.
Ignorance is not necessarily idiocy. Hospital staff may be in a hurry to rush things from one place to another and not even realize there was water left in the machine, until it was too late.

Make sure you know how to set your humidifier to off - and do so ahead of time. So that if worst comes to worst, you can have the necessary pressure from you own machine without humidification. Not optimal, but better that nothing, until you have a reliable way of having the humidifier filled and emptied.

If there is permanent damage, file a CLAIM!
Those high prices are meant to cover liability.
You don't push back, they WIN!

Hello, thx again 4 all replies. I am "renting" the machine for 10 usd a month. My brother took it to service, they found basically nothing wrong with it, a few minor settings were "wrong" and the tank was scorched due to high heat. They replaced the tank. However i am still not sleeping as i used to, waking up after 90min with a very dry mouth, have i become a mouthbreater, being without my machine for almost 3 weeks? I have also lost fluids retained in my body for about 14kgs during this time, constantly urinating.

The mochine shows a sad face, in the easy sleep report. See below for Oscar. Anything i have missed? i can not seem to add the first image, the system refuses.

https://imgur.com/a/fljiQGy

The sad face on the machine LCD screen is because you spent over 25% of the night in large leak territory.
Large leak territory starts at anything over 24 L/min.

Urinating a lot and losing 14 kg in 3 weeks?
SEE YOUR DOCTOR!
It could be diabetes.

Hi,

I am constant monitored at the recovery hospital, undergone major surgery a few weeks ago. I had previously retained water prior to surgery, which is on its way out now with the kidneys waking up from a 12+ month vacation not responding to medications to start working with the rest of my body.. Its all coming together now. I havent felt this good for a few years. thanks for your concern.

regards lasseponken