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The Victorian Respiratory Support Service (VRSS) supplies vulnerable and/or ventilator dependent patients with ventilators that have:
To make sure that your internal and external batteries work in an emergency situation, you need to maintain them.
You cannot replace or access the internal battery yourself.
VRSS recommends that you use your ventilator on mains power whenever possible so that the internal battery remains fully charged at all times. This will ensure you are prepared for an unplanned power outage.
Examples of times you may need to use your ventilator via the internal battery:
If you have a second (backup) ventilator always keep it accessible and plugged into a power point to keep the internal battery charged up.
If you have an external battery, you can connect it to the ventilator with a special adaptor lead. This can supply additional hours of ventilator use if mains power is not available for a long time.
Make sure your external batteries are accessible and maintained by keeping them plugged into a power point when not in use.
Unplanned power outages usually occur during extreme weather. Depending on how much you require the ventilator to support your breathing, you may choose to stay at home to ride out the power outage.
If you are concerned that you do not have enough battery power from either your ventilator(s) and/or external battery kit, please move to another location, such as:
For more advice on ventilators and power outages, please contact the VRSS Outreach service.
Phone: (03) 9496 3665
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