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#: 4111 (C) S0/CompuServe Mail [MAIL]
19-May-97 20:55:24
Sb: PLV100 & travel
Fm: Alan D. Fiala 71044,3671
To: INTERNET:vent-users(AT)eskimo.com
In response to several different messages:
I use a PLV100 for sleeping only, and breathe on my own otherwise.
I use a PLV100 because it was more appropriate for me to have controlled
volume delivery than controlled pressure delivery.
There will be a workshop on this issue at the GINI conference, and I will be
one of the panelists.
When I travel, I carry my vent with me. If I'm flying, sometimes I take it as
carry on, but more and more I get a special shipping crate and send it as
checked baggage, because as seat space shrinks on airplanes these days, it
won't fit under the seat in many aircraft. It's too heavy for me to put on
the overhead rack, and on some airlines the attendants refuse to lift it for
"liability reasons".
I have the maintenance policy with Lifecare. If my unit fails, I call a
special 800 number that goes to the nearest service center, and they bring a
working vent. If I'm far away from one, I might have to sit up without sleep
until it arrives. So far, that hasn't happened. I just recently returned from
an air trip, and when I arrived back home the vent wasn't working. I haven't
yet had it fail away from home.
It is possible to rent a vent from them on travel, and they will have it
at your destination when you arrive. I don't know what this costs
domestically. Travelling overseas, it is mandatory because the 110v version
isn't supposed to run on a transformer, so a 220v model is required. I have
done this three times: England, Netherlands, and India. Costs around $50 a
day, as I recall.
Now that Respironics owns them, I don't know what will happen, but they
say it will continue. Respironics never had a service system or an
international system, and that's why they wanted Lifecare (I hear..).
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