Power Outage

[KT0930]

We woke up this morning, and the power had gone out sometime last night, and was still out when I left for work this morning. The problem is, I have no idea if I have fluid in or not. I am supposed to have a final fill of 2000 and be full all day. I know I at least got to my second to last fill, because I kept getting alarms during it, but other than that, I don't know. I think I may be at least a little empty because my pants feel loose, but I don't have any manual bags with me.

Should I just let it go for today, or do a manual when I get home? If it had been a weekend I probably would have just hooked back up and finished when the power came back on, but I had to go to work. I'm sure the nurse talked about this in training, but that was over a year ago!

[Aldente]

I'm not an expert but I would call my clinic when I got to work.  My final fill was Icodextrin which could dwell for extended periods of time.  Other fluids should not stay in for more than nine or ten hours.  Let your clinic help you with your decision and be safe.

[goofynina]

I would do a manual drain to make sure it was all out before trying to do a refill again   Good luck 

[KT0930]

I managed to get my nurse on her cell shortly after I posted my message earlier, and she wanted me to do a manual during the day, especially as I started to realize that my pants were NOT looser and my back was aching. Apparently I was in my final dwell with 2500 in - ugh! I left work around 11:00, went home, did a manual exchange, got to have lunch with my husband, and went back to work. I felt much better after the exchange!

Other fluids should not stay in for more than nine or ten hours.

I've never been told this, and my normal schedule is to get off the machine at about 4:30 a.m. and stay full (no exchanges) until I get back on between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. My nurse knows that's my schedule. 

[KT0930]

This event brought up a question from several people around me, and got me curious...do any cyclers have some kind of battery back-up alarm that will let you know when the power goes out? It just seems silly to me that the power can go out in the middle of the night and you might not know it until you wake up the next morning. What would happen if I had been a high transporter and been holding the same fluid all night? Has anyone ever heard of an alarm like this?

P.S. I'm using the same machine that I saw in someone's picture from the early 90's (Newton IQ)

[Deanne]

What about using a UPS device? It's a huge battery thing that connects between your AC power and the item that needs to be powered. When AC power goes out, the battery takes over. Some can operate for extended periods of time.

[Razman]

Deanne had the right idea.  I have attached a couple of links but you can go into Best Buy or Future Shop and look at UPS.  On the back of your machine there should be label to give some specs and  the store can  give you suggestions on the cost.  Get them to calulate how much back up time you want and then look around for best price.   I work for one of these companies and when I do dialysis at home I plan to get a back up .  If power goes out I will have no concern.   The UPS  converts battery DC  to  AC  and  depending on model it will giving a warning sound when there is only 5 minutes of time left.  You can then take actions.


http://www.apc.com/products/index.cfm?ISOCountryCode=US&tsk=s477x
http://www.powerware.com/EMEA/UPS/EMEA_Products.asp#s5

[kellyt]

I have something similar with my home alarm system (plug in back-up battery).  It was here when we purchased the house so I don't know where it came from.

If you can't put an alarm on your machine, maybe you could just purchase one that plugs in the wall and alarms when the power goes out.  Anything to wake you up...

Glad everything is okay now!

[angela515]

1) As for dwelling long periods with any other fluid other than Icodextrin, you CAN. The reason for using the Icodextrin, is to help you absorb none or as little fluid as possible for long dwells. Usually if your a high transporter, and you HAVE to dwell all day, you can ask to be put on this kind to help you not absorb the fluid. However, it is safe to dwell for long periods with any type of PD fluid.

2) When my power would go out, and I was hooked up and sleeping.. my machine would continue to do it's thing until the back-up power ran out, and then it would shut off and beep one long continuous beep until you woke up and unplugged it from the wall. So it would wake me up and I would know. If I was awake when the power went out, I would immediately bypass to drain myself and then disconnect and go to sleep and do manuals in the morning and then do my cycler again that night.

I don't know if you have the same machine or whatnot as I had, but I had a Fresenius IQ and that's how mine worked with power outages.

Good luck.

[Aldente]

Plugging any medical equipment into a UPS without approval of the medical equipment manufacturer is risky business.  Not all UPS systems are created equal and making a selection based only on power requirements is not a good idea.  Most UPS systems available at retailers are designed for computer use and I doubt that the salespeople are qualified to determine if a product is suitable for your piece of medical equipment.  I strongly suggest that you obtain a statement in writing from the manufacturer/supplier that your particular dialysis machine is 1. approved to be used with a UPS and 2. Which UPS, if any, is recommended.

Backup or standby electrical generators are a whole other issue and generally don't present the same issues UPS systems do as far as "clean" power is concerned.

[willieandwinnie]

I was so nervous when we did home-hemo that we got a generator and had electric company put a genlink on our meter. If the power went out, I hooked generator up to electric meter and turned on circuit breakers that I wanted. It gave me peace of mind, knowing that I could finish Len's treatment or at least get him off safely if the power was going to be off for a while. Did you know that you can contact your power company and be put on the critical list. They are suppose to get power back to you faster. The few times our power went off, they were very fast to get us back up and even called and offered us a generator during hurricane Isabel. Call your electric company and your water company (if you have one) and they will send the forms to you. Hope this helps.

[KT0930]

Thanks everyone! The UPS sounds like an idea. I will get in touch with Fresenius and see what they have to say about it. My husband and I talked about the idea of a generator, but he thinks that for a really good one (he never buys anything that he doesn't think is "really good"), we'd have to spend more than $500. Where we live, our power goes out very infrequently, so we don't really see spending that much money on a generator. I think we've decided that if the power goes out and looks like it's going to be out for a day or more, then we can go stay with family or go to a hotel.

Oh, as for the Ico solution, I believe that's a Baxter product, so as a Fresenius patient I don't have access to it.

Thanks everyone!

[Wattle]

I missed this post KT. I have had a few Power Outages since starting the cycler. I am on the Fresenius Sleep Safe. It alarms straight away to tell you the power is out. It then has to be turned off. The Sleep Safe has a pump and is not gravity feed. I have had to come off and continue with manual exchanges during the following day. I return to the cycler the next night. I was able to list my house with the power company as having a life support machine. This gives you priority in getting your power back on. It's a good idea to keep a torch in your bedside table. Coming off in the dark can be a little tricky!

[KT0930]

A few have mentioned the priority with the power company, and I had that for a bit, but let the letter expire. I really need to get a new one on-file with them. Wouldn't have helped this time, anyway...the problem was at the power sub-station, so everyone got it back at the same time.