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Camping with Oxygen
Hi there
Please can you advise me on whether there is a facility in the UK to take a portable condenser away in a camper van?
We have spoken to two respiratory nurses, one says yes, the other says no. We have spoken to Air Liquide the company that supplies the oxygen, and they said to contact the respiratory team!
Any advice would be great, I want my husband to continue as normal as possible. Going away in our van is one of those things.
Sandie
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4 Replies
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Hi I have an inogen one G5 concentrator, it comes with a 12 volt charger for use in the car or van.
Were heading north for the tropics for 3 months this Australian winter.
Cheers Mal
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Should work fine. I used a 12 volt marine battery to power my wife’s CPAP overnight rather than wear down car battery or have to leave car running . It was a success , although the marine battery had to be recharged every AM.
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Not sure of the question as asked, but I am on a G5 Inogen and running at #5 setting and 84 in June and purposely not taking meds other than every other day Azythromycin as a prophylaxis against the things not planned on. My 4th Doctor also provided me with a full prescription of Azythromycin and a Z Pack (Prednisalone, for our medicine cabinet in case I feel a hard hit/ exacerbation coming on as we go into weekend and doctor not readily available.
So I don’t ever want that really uncomfortable feeling of being without my supplemental O2, 24/7. To that end the worst thing I can imagine is to have my G5 suddenly quit and to be away from home in the RV or a trip. So I just recently bought a few extra batteries and and extra charger (what a difference for always being charged- believe me!) and we have the car charger as well.
So I scared myself thinking about all this and then bought a second compressor so as to have a good backup available at all times in my office at home or if traveling. I bought the extra G5 from Minneapolis Main Street supply for $1395 (special and nice people) bare bones, no case, no battery, no cannulas, just a straight replace of main working unit if mine suddenly goes clunk, boom which mechanical/electronic things tend to do.
These were personal purchases because sooner or later with deterioration I will likely need Medicare support instead. The most important thing to me is like a good pilot having redundancy in most critical instruments it pays to feel good about having a backup if suddenly needed (even though hospitals and ambulances are available they still take a few anxious moments if not near by-right?) MOney spent islike a good insurance policy.
Also, my experience so far with the batteries, whether direct from Inogen or thru Amazon or wherever, is that they can only be relied on for up to about 6 months and then be careful, as mine seem to deteriorate after 6 months hard use. Mine bought direct from Inogen are readily exchanged if under a year old-overnight). The ones from Amazon can also be exchanged but I can’t remember if they”ll do it over 30 days because they were also cheaper.
***If you have read this far then I’ll throw in a pearl/from George….I have the G5 and also the AT-Home unit from Inogen and they tend to make your “pressing” finger tip sore from pushing on the start or stop and other buttons on the unit. SOLVED THAT ONE! I bought a small $2.00 box, at Lowes, of the tiny little Brown felt stick-ons normally used to put on cabinet doors to quiet them when closing. I put just one on the on off button on compressor and makes it soft on finger tip and also very easy to find correct button in dark if getting up. Problem solved…
***Now for a question as to who knows who puts out a portable unit that can do better than 6 LPM?? I know they will get heavier, but I carry my compressor on a push around stroller due to sore shoulders, cheap and much easier to have two hands available as needed.
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Please be aware that the Inogen G5 and all other pulse-type concentrators are NOT recommended for sleeping! When you sleep your breathing gets shallow enough that the concentrator will stop sending you O2. Then you get hypoxic without knowing it. You need a continuous-flow concentrator for overnight use – and they don’t run on batteries.
Relating to the original question, I can’t give an answer for the UK. But in the US, many campgrounds offer electric hookups that can power a continuous-flow concentrator. That is a reasonable compromise for me – except for the noise of the concentrator running all night.
– jon
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