Hi Everyone. I haven’t begun PD yet but joined the list to learn about what I’m getting into. I live in the cold Northeast and wonder if I will need to get a generator in case the power goes out in the winter.
Thank you, Dale
You might want to talk with the nurse that will be training you about how they typically handle situations when power is out and patients can’t dialyze using a machine. In my experience, most people using cyclers are also trained to do manual exchanges in case they want to travel without their cycler, if there is a problem with the power to the machine or a problem with the machine itself. You might want to ask if you can have a few days’ supplies for CAPD on hand for emergencies.
You may want to post your question to the PD message board for patients to get more responses from PD patients as to whether they have generators.
What should patients do if they receive PD overnight, a common time for outages here in New England?
I’d suggest that you discuss your concern with your home training nurse. Ask how long the internal battery in your cycler lasts. If your power is off longer than that but for a relatively short time, your nurse should be able to tell you what you need to do to complete that treatment, assuming your schedule would allow that. If the power might be off longer, it would probably be a good idea to have some CAPD supplies at home so you can do manual exchanges. Your nurse can tell you how many exchanges to do to make up for the time you missed on the cycler. Ask your nurse or contact the company that makes your cycler what size uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or battery backup you would need to run the cycler. Office supply stores sell them for a variety of uses, mostly for computers. I suspect you’d need to only use it for the cycler because of the electrical power required to run it.
Finally, be sure your utility company knows that you use a dialysis machine at night while your sleep (essential medical equipment) so they put you on a priority list to get power restored. Your utility company may have a form for you to complete or your clinic may need to have your doctor write a letter to the utility company about this need.
[QUOTE=Beth Witten MSW ACSW;21309]I’d suggest that you discuss your concern with your home training nurse. Ask how long the internal battery in your cycler lasts. If your power is off longer than that but for a relatively short time, your nurse should be able to tell you what you need to do to complete that treatment, assuming your schedule would allow that. If the power might be off longer, it would probably be a good idea to have some CAPD supplies at home so you can do manual exchanges. Your nurse can tell you how many exchanges to do to make up for the time you missed on the cycler. Ask your nurse or contact the company that makes your cycler what size uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or battery backup you would need to run the cycler. Office supply stores sell them for a variety of uses, mostly for computers. I suspect you’d need to only use it for the cycler because of the electrical power required to run it.
Finally, be sure your utility company knows that you use a dialysis machine at night while your sleep (essential medical equipment) so they put you on a priority list to get power restored. Your utility company may have a form for you to complete or your clinic may need to have your doctor write a letter to the utility company about this need.[/QUOTE]
Thank you Ms. Witten,
I appreciate the timely response. One more question: can you recommend a generator model?
I don’t know anything about generators. Although states may, Federal regulations for dialysis facilities don’t require them. A generator is not the same as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). A UPS has a large battery that is typically plugged into a wall outlet and when power fails, the battery takes over running the equipment (like a cycler) that is plugged into it.
Generators can be dangerous. Here’s information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission about generator safety.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/portgen.html
If you want to buy something to run your cycler during electrical outages, I’d talk with the cycler manufacturer to find out what you should buy.
Hi McManus,
It sounds as if you are worried about what might happen in an emergency, if the power goes out. Even if you use a cycler, you can do a manual drain if the power goes out. Draining and filling on a cycler are done using gravity. Ask your nurse how this might work.
You may want to read our article about preparing for emergencies (http://www.homedialysis.org/article/life_at_home/disaster_planning_for_pd_and_home_hd/). It does talk about generators, but does not recommend a brand. I’ve heard good things about Honda generators–they are the quietest, I’m told–but a generator can run you upwards of $1000. Most people don’t use one.