We have ready access to finger oximeters from our local FD/FR department. We’re both part of the auxiliary at this stage, retired from the department, and on an island of pop. 350, so that level of access should remain good.
With the encouragement of several posters here (thank you), I am going to see if I can rent an oxygen concentrator for 1 year ($3500 to purchase, $840 to rent) and a BiPAP machine with a full face mask and humidifier.
I hope (?) that these could function for respiratory support for a mild pneumonia case with mild hypoxemia and increased work of breathing. But I’m not sure of this. I’ll see if I can find out tomorrow. But they are far, far short of a full ICU bed staffed with skilled nurses and respiratory therapists! Pneumonia often needs IV fluids, blood pressure support medicines IV, frequent lab work, and frequent suctioning of the airway to remove mucous. None of that will be happening with home treatment.
We have a DME (durable medical equipment) company near by that can help fit the mask and ensure compatibility.
Concentrators and BiPAP machines require a doctors prescription. Since I don’t have lung disease with low oxygen levels, no insurance will pay for this equipment. So it will be a cash. Might be needed by me, or a family or loved one. Will find out tomorrow how this goes.
Yes, you are supposed to have a doctor’s Rx for a machine. However, they are readily available on Craig’s List.
The nCoV, virus, can make you vulnerable to bacterial pneumonia. I’m not sure that the nCoV IS the pneumonia. Can somebody who knows please chime in?
Laura, medical professions will correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that the term “pneumonia” is the general term for fluid on the lungs. The cause can be viral or bacterial. You might not get pneumonia from Covid, but strep is an opportunistic ba$tard and so could infect your lungs too. That’s why we talked about getting the pneumonia vaccine as a preventative. Antibiotics might help that but not for Covid.
(Not a doctor nor do I play one on TV)
Discussing this with wife tonight. Must have a doc’s prescription for oxygen as well. You can only get oxygen if you have a medical need for it. No need, no O2.
She is in medical field and our son is an RT. She’s going to consult him for additional options.
The Medical Industrial Complex…what can I say?
First off, I want to make it clear that I am NOT a medical professional. Yes, it does require a prescription to get “medical oxygen” but the oxygen in the much bigger tanks you get at a welding store are pure oxygen as well and hold a LOT more oxygen. Yes you are buying a “used” tank pre-filled with oxygen, but in an emergency I personally am not going to be picky. Just make sure you buy the correct oxygen regulator. The medical tanks have a CGA870 connection but the large tanks for welding (we use ours for gopher extermination - think Caddyshack!) have a CGA540 connection. I wanted to make sure I purchased a reliable brand so I got a couple from Drive Medical here: https://www.vitalitymedical.com/drive-oxygen-regulator-cga-540.html I have never purchased from them before but the process was seamless and my order was delivered quickly. No complaints. I am sure that there are lots of other medical supply stores on the web as well as actual store fronts that sell these same models. The output is a DISS connection so you need to buy a few christmas tree adapter nipples as well. https://www.vitalitymedical.com/hudson-rci-nipple-and-nut.html Don’t forget to buy whatever tubing, masks, and nasal cannulas you need as well.
It was my understanding when I used to weld that you couldn’t use industrial air or oxygen for breathing because the compressors are lubricated with oil. This would get into your lungs and be bad. I can think of a couple of work arounds though.
That is a really good point. I will have to research that. Like I said I am not a medical professional! 
Clear as mud: https://weldtalk.hobartwelders.com/forum/weld-talk-topic-archive/welding-products/5212-welding-vs-medical-grade-oxygen
@Dtrammel thank you very much for the very exhaustive list of crucial information, last days my insomnia got worse so I had something to read on :-))) and I have not read through all of it yet. I find very useful your advice about pets; I have also adopted a cat and it’s very relaxing to play with him. When humans feel under pressure, animals can help them to calm down and start thinking rationally.
I feel very lucky for I had made conserves of elderflower sirup last summer, as the plant grows wild on the boards of forests over here and I used to drink elderflower lemonade when I was little.
I was born in Eastern Europe where every product that you can find for free in the nature is highly appreciated as our countries were impoverished by the soviet occupation. Recently I started to experiment with natural fermentation, and in case of necessity I guess I would succeed to prepare my own fermented vegetables, home made yoghurt, home made fresh cheese, basic vinegar. Also I made a large electronic cookbook collection about home made pasta, drying food, making sausages and curing meats. Drying fruits and herbs is an excellent way to store excess of seasonal products for later consumption. Tried to dry meat too, beef and horse meat stripes, with chili peppers and soya sauce marinade which were quite tasty.
Anyway, having stored larger reserves of sugar, natural salt, vinegar and spices is always useful. In the worst case kitchen waste like apple or melon peels can be put to ferment in water with a bit of sugar. Vinegar made in this way is weak in acidity but is an excellent cleaning product to wash floors and kitchen surfaces. It has also mild disinfecting properties and can be useful in case one cannot buy cleaning products.
I want to study better herbal properties to heal symptoms of pneumonia, heart and kidney troubles. Traditionally herbs were used by our grandmothers to heal these health problems and certainly some herbs can be very useful in time of overall crisis, when normal medicines are either not available or don’t bring the awaited results. I had to do once with tropical fever of a friend in Indonesia that shot the fever up to 41-42ºC (over 105ºF) and I succeeded to put it under control with wet towels before a doctor could arrive who prescribed medication. Another time I was able to help with herbs to ease kidney troubles, so if there is a real need to help ourselves without medical assistance, there are possible steps to take to ease the situation. Only sudden heart troubles scare me, because there is not enough time to do something.
Hi sand_puppy, please can I ask your advice.
I have a ResMed S9 CPAP machine. Will this machine be of any benefit to me in case of contracting Covid-19? Or might using it do me more harm than good?
Many thanks indeed for a brief feedback. Much appreciated.
I found another good link that seems very logical. Hopefully somebody more expert on this will comment.
https://survivalblog.com/five-letters-re-welding-oxygen/
I have a ResMed 10 CPAP. I better change the filters more often. If things get ugly I’ll have to hibernate in the house and stay strapped to it 24/7. I use the public bus system every day. There were several people coughing fairly hard yesterday, including a driver. I better update my will soon.
As far as oxygen goes, I’ve seen TV ads about an easy to carry tankless system. Would they be effective?
Here’s an interesting interview of law professor Francis Boyle about the coronavirus. He thinks it’s an engineered bioweapon. It’ll be pretty hard to dismiss him since he authored The Biological Weapons Act. Then there’s this line out of the Project for a New American Century: “And advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=TsyujjitOFM&feature=emb_logo
Amazing work over the last month. I learned A LOT.
I am so grateful that I followed you from the beginning and believed in you and your analytical data driven approach.
as you mentioned in your last video, it’s on everyone’s lips now “a crisis now obvious to all”
in a funny sarcastic note, you didn’t make the cut on the misinformation list published the other day.
https://www.newsguardtech.com/coronavirus-misinformation-tracking-center/
big thanks! Love your work.
ps Bloomberg and Wikipedia should send you chocolate for life.
Covid19 has made it onto the Radio Scotland morning chat show. The health expert advised us to just wash our hands. Said it was highly unlikely anyone would catch it from handling money, door handles and other hard surfaces. She said it was spread by droplets - no mention of aerosols. Also recommending 14 days self-isolation if someone has been to an infected region, rather than 27 days which is what the science now suggests.
There was also a shocking report of a young Scottish teacher working in Wuhan, who was able to leave at the end of January just before total lockdown in his region. He tried contacting UK authorities for advice, and was passed from pillar to post with no useful advice - or screening going through the UK airport - eventually his mum called NHS24 who advised 14 days self isolation. So he stayed in his uncle’s caravan for two weeks, arriving there by public transport. Happily he has shown no signs of infection since then, but how many people DID slip through the wide open net and are now incubating coronavirus masquerading as ‘flu’ in their communities? At last the UK govt has today decided to start testing people with flu symptoms … but I rather suspect this particular cat is well and truly out of the bag!
I think it was Granny in one of the previous threads, maybe this one that summed it up quite well…“these ‘people’ (I’ll use her word) don’t give a shit about you.”
The sooner you realize that, the better prepared you will be…the only ones that your will be able to count on are those in your immediate circle. Even that will be difficult.
I’ll repeat this…“No one is coming to save you.”
An accidental escape of an engineered virus, used in research, may look and act like a bio-weapon someone deliberately released. But, don’t all pathogens act like a weapon?
Do you think CHINA would be able to recognize the genetic signature of their bio-weapons, and their labs recognize their own handiwork? I think so.
The actions of all the world’s governments are not consistent with the advent of bio-warfare, especially the Chinese reaction…as they KNOW the source of the virus they are facing. Remember, the Chinese reacted almost immediately with unprecedented acts, far in excess of those taken by an uninformed entity…just learning of the pathogen. This indicates the Chinese had direct knowledge of the threat they faced.
For example, the Chinese could already have known how SARS-CoV-2 used sub, and non, neutralizing antibodies, to gain access to Fc-Expressing-Cells, along with the receptors ACE2, to cause dangerous reactions to a secondary virus infection, from the study of this coronavirus in their labs. They would also be familiar with this coronavirus R=0 factor, as well as other virus characteristics.
Other than to avoid blame for the engineered pathogen we now face, China could have officially placed blame for the virus on any handy political target…and acted accordingly. And, while this may have been something the Chinese thought about, and even tested a bit, they realized this tactic would be much worse for them, than just shutting up and handing it the best they could.
The Chinese know what this virus is, and the U.S. & Canada knows what this virus is, too. Exactly. It exists in Chinese, Canadian, and U.S. labs…right now, and has existed in them for a few years. It was developed to research the development of vaccines and nucleotide serums for coronavirus pathogens.
It escaped from a Chinese lab, which received it from a Canadian lab, and the lab it escaped from has a history of virus escapes. The Chinese lab is located at GROUND ZERO for this current outbreak. This is why we are not shooting at each other at this time.
Although I firmly believe this outbreak is accidental, the result of this outbreak shall mirror the strategies developed for bio-warfare and “a-political” depopulation efforts. This cannot be avoided and speculation about these things cannot be stopped. But, neither of which may be true.
Do not expect ANY vaccine to be available in 18 months, or in 18 years. The ADE (Antibody Dependent Enhancement) used by this virus to broaden its pathway into the body is only added by vaccines. We are still waiting for cures to the SARS coronavirus, for example. It has been Eight YEARS, and counting…and THIS virus is worse.
BOND MONEY is the reason the WHO and CDC will not call this pandemic a pandemic. Doing so releases over $400,000,000 from dedicated Bonds, if they do declare an official pandemic, wiping out all bond holder investments.
Again, it is not our HEALTH these agencies care about…but, money…and the economy.
My background? Bio-Warfare. Chemical Warfare. And, part of the U.S. fire teams for decontamination resulting from radio active events.
This virus should make 1918 look like the sniffles.
Make sure you stock up on toilet paper!