Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine

Latter point agreed with 100%!

Am bowing out of the rest of it in the shadow of more learned forumites - bored now, but glad that I haven't got someone onboard who might have a greater than average chance of not breathing!
End Of!!!



photodog said:
I'll answer that... when the CPAP machine has been prescribed as a solution for chronic sleep apnea diagnosed from excessive snoring.

(Bearing in mind that sleep Apnea is not recognised on its own as a condition that is potentially fatal.)

The use of CPAP machines is becoming more and more common for this...

Though I do agree that it is encumbant upon the op to check with the passenger about his needs and weigh up any potential risks. There is no reason why a person with almost any disability should not in my opinion be able to spend time on a yacht...
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Last gasp ROFL!!!!!!!!!

P.S. It's spelled "APNOEA" !!! Please at least get that right, or use UK sourced info.

That's the end, really....... not gonna say anything else!
 
Speaking as someone who deals with airway management as a full time job ( 25 years now, and boy, does it feel like it!), CPAP is mostly used to assist sleep apnoea sufferers to get a decent night's sleep by applying a slight continuous positive pressure to maintain an open airway, as Brendan correctly pointed out. After 25 years, i am now considered a dinosaur in the profession, mainly 'cos I firmly believe in the KISS principle. If you runout of 12v power, turn him on his side, wedge him into that position, lift his chin up as far as it will go, and leave him be. Amazingly, he will almost certainly be quite OK in the morning. How do I know..........'cos my wife snores like a blunt saw and it works for her. Trust me, I know a LOT of anaesthetists. Don't get him piSSed and DON'T let him sleep on his back. Simples.
 
Sorry, couldn't resist replying! :

Your advice on the basis of "a life time" of airway management and knowing "a LOT of anaesthetists" and having a wife who snores, says that parsifal is gonna be safe and sound onboard with his guest?

Your comment that the guest will "almost certainly be quite ok in the morning" isn't that convincing to me!

parsifal: get it checked out with your guest; get some specific info; discuss it with him/her- it's your boat and it, together with those onboard, are your responsibility. In raising the question, you obviously have doubts- if you do not address these nagging concerns of yours in reality, rather than relying on a bunch of "anonymous whoevers" giving our very opinionated views, then you will regret it!

Haven't-a-Clue said:
Speaking as someone who deals with airway management as a full time job ( 25 years now, and boy, does it feel like it!), CPAP is mostly used to assist sleep apnoea sufferers to get a decent night's sleep by applying a slight continuous positive pressure to maintain an open airway, as Brendan correctly pointed out. After 25 years, i am now considered a dinosaur in the profession, mainly 'cos I firmly believe in the KISS principle. If you runout of 12v power, turn him on his side, wedge him into that position, lift his chin up as far as it will go, and leave him be. Amazingly, he will almost certainly be quite OK in the morning. How do I know..........'cos my wife snores like a blunt saw and it works for her. Trust me, I know a LOT of anaesthetists. Don't get him piSSed and DON'T let him sleep on his back. Simples.
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Considering the trouble some people take to give seriously disabled people a chance to sail or take part in other sports, I suppose the least I can do is to find out what special requirements there might be and do my best to accomodate them.

And on that sanctimonious note I'll trundle off to bed. :D

Memo for tomorrow: go to chemists and buy some earplugs!
 
Have got a supply of very good earplugs onboard if you want some! Good night. :D

parsifal said:
Considering the trouble some people take to give seriously disabled people a chance to sail or take part in other sports, I suppose the least I can do is to find out what special requirements there might be and do my best to accomodate them.

And on that sanctimonious note I'll trundle off to bed. :D

Memo for tomorrow: go to chemists and buy some earplugs!
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carise said:
Sleep apnoea actually means stopping breathing when you're asleep!!!! Yes snoring can be annoying, but with apnoea it can be fatal!
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Although sleep apnoea does indeed mean stopping breathing while asleep, the risk is not that someone dies in the night but rather that the chemical changes in the blood as a result of temporarily stopping breathing cause the sufferer to wake up. As a result they are chronically sleep-deprived and tend to fall asleep at other times, for example while driving. So while sleep apnoea can indeed be fatal, the mechanism is not as carise suggests. This sort of misinformation can be very unhelpful as it leads to the sufferer's bed partner lying awake listening to them breathing and waking them up if the rhythm changes. This, of course, makes the sufferer's sleep deprivation worse and leads to the partner becoming sleep-deprived as well.

A case, I think, for more facts and fewer exclamation marks.
 
Seems everyone is a medic how about and engineers view

If your crews Doctor has prescribed a machine get your crew to ask the Doc about the risk, if all is ok findout if the machine will withstand marine environment and the risk of knocks etc if still ok find out how much current the machine draws. Your 110Ahr battery should be good to support overnight an electric motor that draws up to 1 Ahr or so even if it is not fully charged.

However if you have only one battery get a portable engine start unit (Maplin had a deal on a while ago at £30) or if funds do not allow a fully charged car battery from a scrap yard, this would be good both for your crew and be a useful back up in the future.

Good luck
 
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Ask the patient about it. They should have been well briefed about why they need the machine, how to use it away from a mains supply and the risks, if any, of the machine packing up.

My guess? They've asked themselves these questions in relation to a boat trip and come up with the answer they gave you. They may well have their own battery pack so won't have to rely on the boat's batteries. 2p
 
Thistle said:
Ask the patient about it. They should have been well briefed about why they need the machine, how to use it away from a mains supply and the risks, if any, of the machine packing up.

My guess? They've asked themselves these questions in relation to a boat trip and come up with the answer they gave you. They may well have their own battery pack so won't have to rely on the boat's batteries. 2p
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But their battery pack will need recharging.

If they need to use the dehumidifier element ( a heater) then you will need a 500W inverter in addition to the main supply. I have tried to look up the ampage for these machines, but not one of the manufacturers list it in their specs! I would imaging that you should allow for 2 amps for 7 hours daily. Therefore there is a clear choice with only 1 battery, Machine or cold beers.......

On second thoughts - he snores - there is a third choice - nothing worse on a boat!
 
Both my wife and I use a CPAP machine. As said it is only a light pressure up the nose. If I don't use it for a couple of nights it does no harm. The problem is the constant lack of deep rem sleep due to waking up upto 4000 times a night. Until she was diagnosed Nobody could understand why even though she was in bed 18 to 20 hours a day she was still unable to function due to tiredness. Within 10 days of using the CPAP she was a different person, alive again. I reckon most people with Depression may be suffers of SA and new muns suffering from Post Natal Depression are probably suffering similarly due to being up with the baby all day and night.

A Sufferer!
 
rhumlady said:
I reckon most people with Depression may be suffers of SA and new muns suffering from Post Natal Depression are probably suffering similarly due to being up with the baby all day and night.
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There is no evidence to support this, I am afraid, and although people with clinical depression commonly experience reduced sleep, it has been shown that deliberately keeping them awake improves their symptoms.
 
Margot Fonteyn

Hi, I understand that the role of Ondine was one of Margot Fonteyn's favorites? We used to call obstructive sleep apnoea Ondine's curse but apparently this is now largely reserved for the much less common congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Obstructive sleep apnoea is not likely to kill anyone directly but does lead to extreme drowsiness and in the long term to pulmonary hypertension, amongst other things. But who am to intrude, I am only a Consultant Cardio-thoracic Anaesthesiologist?
 
A doctor writes ...

I just love these threads. Lots of contributions from people who know a bit about the subject, some spot on, some talking a complete load of b***s. I know quite a lot about OSA, having dealt with several cases professionally, so I won't add to the chatter.

The spelling "APNOEA" shouted at us above is a Victorian distortion of the original Greek. The stem is πνεειν - to breathe and the noun that derives from it is απνοια. That was a habit early 19th C grammarians had, trying to turn English into a language with Latin grammar and introducing diphthongs into a language that doesn't actually have them on the basis of spellings in other languages that also don't have them. The "oe" should run together as a single character "œ", not be separate. A similar word is fœtus.

In the case of fœtus, the accepted spelling in UK medicine is now fetus. In time the correct English spelling of apnœa will revert to the spelling that is more correctly used in North America "apnea".

and know you know some more trivia ...

PS, he ain't going to drop dead if his battery goes flat.
 
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