FAA regs on cpap i nflight, new in 5_2009

elader wrote: ....... Still mask, hose, planes??? I have never seen anyone do this.

I retired and gave up the overseas travel (Asia, Europe, S.A.) because of this issue. To make matters worse, I can't control my sleep apnea while sleeping on my back (pressure 19 cm). I can't see sleeping on my sides or tummy on a long flight.

Eventually we will do that vacation to Hawaii and have discussed with a travel agent flying to Portland and taking a cruise ship to Hawaii.

I may try a mouthpiece (Thornton Adjustable Positioner) in the near future. I hope it would be effective enough for airline flights and short naps.

rooster wrote:

elader wrote: ....... Still mask, hose, planes??? I have never seen anyone do this.

I retired and gave up the overseas travel (Asia, Europe, S.A.) because of this issue. To make matters worse, I can't control my sleep apnea while sleeping on my back (pressure 19 cm). I can't see sleeping on my sides or tummy on a long flight.

Eventually we will do that vacation to Hawaii and have discussed with a travel agent flying to Portland and taking a cruise ship to Hawaii.

I may try a mouthpiece (Thornton Adjustable Positioner) in the near future. I hope it would be effective enough for airline flights and short naps.

The mouthpiece occurred to me too. I am afraid whether insurance can cover that AND cpap.

rooster wrote:I can't see sleeping on my sides or tummy on a long flight.

I'm 5'7 1/2" so it is likely you are taller than me and surely weigh more than I do. Because of my sleep apnea, I can fall asleep almost anywhere at all. But because I've had sleep apnea and breathing problems for all my life (I knew something was very bad about me sleeping on my back decades before doctors diagnosed me with sleep apnea), I have curled us and slept on my side in almost impossible to do so places. I don't fly much but I have done just that on SW airlines poor people class , every time I have flown. Couldn't help it....I couldn't stay awake...I didn't take up anymore than my own seat space though so no one complained. Esp when it became clear how airsick I can get, so folks around me would rather me sleep than barf...but that is another story

I have slept in front of my horse's stall when he was in ICU at a horse hospital, for two days, on two office waiting room chairs pushed together. I pushed them face to face and curled up in a ball and slept on my side that way. It seriously helped my horse, that he had me right there next to him. But if it ever happens again, I'll have my machine with me.
mar

elader wrote: ..........
The mouthpiece occurred to me too. I am afraid whether insurance can cover that AND cpap.

My insurance will not pay for an oral device under any condition. I can get a TAP made for $1700 from a good local dentist. I would have to figure out on my own whether it is effective.

Or I can have a sleep dentist make a TAP and do a followup PSG to check the effectiveness. He charges $5000.

I have a sweet piece of property that a commercial developer is looking at. If a big check comes along, I will take $1700 of it and go to the local dentist.

I work for the medical desk of an airline and can answer a few questions for you.
We fly US to New Zealand and also US to London, England.
Most of these flights are overnight flights and so we get a lot of cpap users requesting the use of their cpaps.
We, like most major airlines, have a list of approved electrical devices that can safely be used on-board and can utilise the aircraft power.
Since May 13 we have to conform to DOT rules regarding carriage of medical passengers, the actual rule states a cpap machine can be used provided it has an FAA approval sticker or is cleared for use by the airline.
Currently we only allow Resmed models and a couple of Fisher & Paykel machines to be used onboard, when a customer is travelling with an approved model we seat them where one of our few large load powerpoints are located and they're allowed to switch on and use overnight.
If you have an unnaproved model you are still allowed to take it onboard as cabin baggage and we don't charge an extra fee as we treat cpap machines as medical equipment.
I would suggest that if you wish to fly and use your cpap in-flight you advise your travel agent at the time of booking (or if you're using the internet, the actual airline/s you'll be flying on) that you wish to use your cpap during the flight and that your make/model is such and such. If it's not an approved model you will still have plenty of time to either source an approved model for sale or hire.
That way the airline can approve use and get you all set with no fuss. If you turn up at check-in and advise then that you wish to use a cpap and it's not an approved model.....
One last note, most airlines will not allow the use of plug adaptors on-board so ask what plug should be attached to the cpap (our airline uses the standard US power plug) so that again you can source the correct plug if you don'yt have one.
Hope this helps and clarifies a bit, I may well be approving some of your travels one day!

Thanks, Loz, for the great information and suggestions.
It's extremely helpful.

Loz,
Why is only one brand approved? Thank you for all the info you have provided thus far,
~joan

Loz wrote:.........Currently we only allow Resmed models and a couple of Fisher & Paykel machines to be used onboard, ............

Loz,

Thanks for the info and the consideration you are giving to CPAP patients.

What is the process for getting a model approved? Do the manufacturers have to approach the airlines individually or the FAA?

Many of us are being left out because we don't use these two brands. Buying or renting one of them can be very expensive.

Best regards,

OK question answer time.
We only have one or two approved models for one simple reason, the cost of approval! To get approved an engineer has to perform a series of bench tests and strain tests to ensure aircraft electrical safety, this don't come cheap. From now on as well, our engineers have stated that any further approvals must be funded by the manufacturer!! I'd imagine that most airlines will be going down this road in the current economic climate.
As for FAA approval, we're in the dark about the process (there's no published list of which cpap models are approved..) but I would imagine that again it would come at the manufacturers expense.
Some older models of cpap will never be suitable for aircraft use as they either try to draw too much power or can interfere with various aircraft functions, but the newer models coming out are definately more aircraft friendly and would stand a good chance of being approved.
I suggest you contact your manufacturer to urge them to get FAA approval, if enough of you ask they'd have to listen.
I'll keep checking back so any further queries post 'em here and I'll try to answer best I can.

elader wrote:

Billy6 wrote:>>>Who uses a CPAP in flight to even make this an issue of concern?>>>
I've never seen it, but then there are always some who need to do it for show.

You know, I have never felt the need on the cpap forum to call someone a f***ing idiot until now. Ah...... the moment has passed.

Dude, i take 8-14 hour overnight flights. Without cpap, I stop breathing 75 times an hour. I desat to below 85 percent hundreds of times a night, and wake soaked in sweat with a pounding headache. You are right, it's would be for show. Its cool to wear a freaking mask on a plane in front of 300 strangers.

Not to mention that at an increased altitude at pressure, the desat would probably be greater than normal?

Yep...I think it would be the height of style to show off and wear that mask....

Loz wrote:........ From now on as well, our engineers have stated that any further approvals must be funded by the manufacturer!! I'd imagine that most airlines will be going down this road in the current economic climate.
........

That seems appropriate regardless of the economic condition.

Thanks,



Rooster

I bought a second CPAP machine just for travel - an Aeiomed Everest 2. It will run about 15 hours on its battery. Small and light, it is my preferred travel machine even if I'm not on a plane and therefore don't need the battery.
I flew to Brazil 2 years ago before I bought it and slept poorly on the plane. I don't much care about one bad night's sleep, but I arrived with a pounding oxygen-deprivation headache that cost me a whole day there to get over. I said "never again."
Yes, people stare at me when I mask up, though on some night flights the cabin is so dark, so few people are moving around, and I can get the blanket over my face, so almost no one sees me.
It is small enough that I could sleep with it on my lap/thigh if I had to. but the hose is long enough to reach from the floor which is where I usually place it.
Doug

Those with batteries: Be advised that approval for use on aircraft is more than evaluating the power source.

They look to see if the device emits any RFI (radio frequency interference) or other spurious emissions which may affect the aircraft's comm or nav systems. That's why cell phones and portable radios aren't allowed, even tho most run on batteries.

If your CPAP isn't on the list, you shouldn't be allowed to use it regardless of how it's powered. If they DO allow it, they are violating FAA Regs.

On another note: We're taking an overnight train trip later this summer. I've been assured our "compartment" (two seats facing each other which fold down for one bed, while another "bunk" folds out from above the window. It is divided off by partitions front and read, with a curtain on the aisle.) has electric outlets. Amtrak isn't picky at all what you operate enroute, apparently.

>> Those with batteries: Be advised that approval for use on aircraft is more than evaluating the power source.
They look to see if the device emits any RFI (radio frequency interference) or other spurious emissions which may affect the aircraft's comm or nav systems. That's why cell phones and portable radios aren't allowed, even tho most run on batteries.
If your CPAP isn't on the list, you shouldn't be allowed to use it regardless of how it's powered. If they DO allow it, they are violating FAA Regs.<<

A small air pump is a LOT less likely to emit RFI that are ALL the other devices they DO allow. And God only knows how many cellphones in planes are accidentally left in the power on condition in flight by people who honestly just forgot to turn them off.

In my opinion the new FAA policy with respect to CPAPs is silly.

Loz wrote:To get approved an engineer has to perform a series of bench tests and strain tests to ensure aircraft electrical safety...

Bench tests and strain tests? You've got to be kidding me. People plug 17" laptops which consume as much power as a small hairdryer, dvd players, ipods, phones, video game systems, and a variety of other devices into those power ports. Most of which consume more power than most CPAP machines, even with heated humidifiers. And most of which emit far more radio frequency energy than a CPAP machine.

I take my CPAP on the plane all the time. I've never asked for approval. If an FA were ever to have a problem with it, I'd ask her where the approval sticker is on my neighbor's laptop and go back to sleep.

Brian