Medical Equipment
First of all I will
start with my trach. When I had my tracheostomy
done I used a Shiley. I
didn’t know about different trach tubes. After
a few years went by I
was finally at the biggest size and volume of air
that the trach could
hold. A friend of mine from ICU showed me a
Portex trach. It was
definitely different. I was used to a hard tube
with a hard flange where
the strap is attached. With the Portex you
get a soft flexible tube and transparent flange.
High volume low
pressure is just what I
needed. It is easy to clean around and comes
with it’s own strap.
http://www.samples.portex.com/pages/prod_display.asp?n=1,2,6
As for my ventilator,
it’s Bear 33. It’s old but it is a workhorse. Vital
Aire is in charge of my
homecare and it’s the only one they rent. I
use an external peep
valves called ACCU-PEEP.
http://www.msdistributors.com/
Power and torque, you
would think I was talking about a power tool
or a race car. Actually
I am talking about aspirators.(suction machine)
I had my trach since
October 1996. I have chest physio 3 times a day
both sides. So when I
get the thick phlegm loose, I have to get it up
fast. That is where my
aspirator comes in. When I came home from
the hospital in June
1997 Vital Aire had an Impact for me. Since then
I was told they weren’t
made anymore. When I got my VisionKey I
tracked it via the
internet and had a successful relationship with the
company ever since. The
only way I can explain why the Impact is so
important to me is the
following. Say there is a quarter mile race at
your local drag strip.
The one who can drive their car down the strip
the fastest wins. It
seems an Impact is built under that principal. It
builds up speed and
power fast and that gets the phlegm fast. Anyway
to keep lungs clear
works for me. I know their equipment is used by
the US military and they
are second to none. The Impact products I
use are all in the 300
series lineup. I have a 326 Ultra Lite, 308-GR
and 305 Vac Pak
Impact Instrumentation,
27 Fairfield Place,
West Caldwell,
New Jersey 07006
800-969-0750
973-882-1212
Fax:
973-882-4993
http://www.impactinstrumentation.com/
In the USA contact
Tony Altamore
aaltamore@impactinstrumentation.com
In Canada contact
Scott Rowland
416-255-9521
To get the phlegm to loosen up, I use a G-5
Vibracare massager. I had
used a similar product to Vibracare but it just
simply wore out and I
could not even make the name out. Lucky for me I had
a friend in the
in the healthcare systems who knew about General
Physiotherapy.
That is the name of the company who sells G-5
products. They come
with a range of adapters and straps. So if you’re
healthy and just want
a massage, strap it on. They are versatile whether you
are healthy or
not. There is always a use for one of the many
G-5’s.
General Physiotherapy,
13222 Lakefront Drive,
St. Louis, Missouri,
63045 USA
800-237-1832
314-291-1442
Fax:
314-291-1485
Although I use a regular
hospital bed, I don’t use a standard hospital
mattress. It took me at
least 5 attempts to find something that was a
comfort to me. My
shoulders seemed to be the part that bothered me
most of all. The
mattress I have been sleeping on since about 1995 is
is called a “Pressure
Guard”. It is the one I chose because I knew when
I got a full nights
sleep with no shoulder pain, that was the one for me.
It is the combination of
air tubes and foam. It is manufactured by a
company called Span
America.
Span America,
70 Commerce Center,
South Carolina 29615
800 – 888 – 6752
864 – 288 – 8692 (fax)
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