From <@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Tue Aug 26 09:32:19 1997 Return-Path: <@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from pucc.PRINCETON.EDU (smtpb@pucc.Princeton.EDU [128.112.129.99]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id JAA18380; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 09:32:19 -0400 Received: from PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU by pucc.PRINCETON.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 9029; Tue, 26 Aug 97 09:23:32 EDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin MAILER@TCUBVM) by PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 4377; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 09:23:32 -0400 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 3857; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 08:26:38 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 3851 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 08:25:52 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 3850; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 08:25:50 -0500 Approved-By: EIDSON@TCUBVM Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 2622; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 21:58:41 -0500 Received: from ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Sun, 24 Aug 97 21:58:38 CDT Received: from big.fishnet.net (big.fishnet.net) by ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU (PMDF V5.0-5 #20456) id <01IMU0A6TIG0000O8L@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU> for SCOUTS-L@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 21:57:16 -0500 (CDT) Received: from morrisrl (port078.vta.fishnet.net [205.216.133.227]) by big.fishnet.net (8.8.5/8.6.9) with SMTP id SAA18951; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 18:54:40 -0700 X-Sender: rodger@fishnet.net MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32) Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970824200607.019e4100@fishnet.net> Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:06:09 -0700 Reply-To: Rodger Morris Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: Rodger Morris Subject: How To Go Camping With Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Long) X-To: SCOUTS-L@TCU.EDU X-cc: Carol Kelley To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: At 01:27 PM 8/21/97 -0500, Carol Kelley wrote: ... >Last May, (1996) my husband and boys decided to forego Cub Adventure >Weekend and do a fishing campout on their own. The main reason behind this >being my husband is a large man who doesn't tolerate heat well and also has >sleep apnea and requires electricity for his C-Pap machine. ... >BTW, This brings up a question. If I can talk my husband into going to >summer camp one year, does his use of a C-Pap machine for Sleep Apnea fall >under Disability Guidelines and require the camp to provide him with >electricity??? ... I have "severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome" (OSA), and I have camped at our council summer camp for a week during each of the past three summers with my troop. My OSA is severe enough that it requires a Bi-PAP instead of the wimpy C-PAP your husband uses. ;-) >From a discussion a year or so ago here on SCOUTS-L, it seems that we have a fair number of Scouters with OSA, and they seem to do pretty well in the field, on the whole. What your husband needs is "reasonable accomodation" for the OSA. Here is how the Ventura County Council and I arranged things to reasonably accomodate my severe OSA so I could fully participate in the program at Camp Three Falls: I bought a battery charger, two marine deep cycle batteries, an electrical extension cord, and a direct current to alternating current inverter (12VDC/115VAC), Radio Shack part number 22-132A , plus some 30 ampere fuses for the inverter, just in case I should happen to hook the inverter up wrong and blow the inverter fuse. I've done this twice in the last 6 months. BLUSH!!! The council knows I have severe OSA, and they put my troop into one of the campsites nearest the camp health lodge, which has a pair of external electrical sockets. When I arrive at camp, I am allowed to drive to the health lodge and set up the battery charger and the spare battery. Then I drive as close to the campsite as I can and lug the other battery and my Bi-PAP plus support gear to our troop campsite. This allows me to function very well indeed. In my considered opinion, attempting to get the council to run electrical power to the campsite would be unreasonable, counterproductive in the extreme and would greatly exceed the federal mandate of "reasonable accomodation" under the "Americans With Disabilities Act of 1995". Our council cheerfully meets me halfway in dealing constructively with my severe OSA. The only drawback to this arrangement is that the batteries are very heavy and lugging them to and from the health lodge is tough. Next year, I intend to design and build a small collapsible wagon to carry the batteries to and fro. Another advantage to having this equipment is that I can easily cope with a sudden power outage at home or elsewhere. Had your husband had this gear, he could simply have lugged one of the batteries into the motel room, hooked up the inverter, and gotten his sleep. The next morning, he could have gone out and bought a two-prong to three-prong electrical adaptor at a hardware store. "Be Prepared" I keep one of these adaptors in my Bi-PAP support kit, along with a few other goodies, such as an electrical multimeter. I've needed this for cruising on the Scouting tall ship, the Argus and when I've been camping in Mexico with my Scouts. In the former case, the Argus has 24VDC. In the latter, you find 115VAC and 230VAC, and it is impossible to tell which an electrical outlet contains simply by looking at it. I will buy a 20-40VDC/12VDC stepdown transformer this week, as I am going out sailing overnight again on the Argus with the Order of the Arrow over the weekend of September 5-7. I'll step down the 24VDC to 12VDC, then invert it to 115VAC. As an insurance policy, I'll bring along one of my marine batteries. If your husband has one of the newer C-PAP units, it is quite possible that he can tap 12VDC directly off the marine deep cycle battery and forego buying an inverter. Alas, my Bi-PAP is an older unit that runs only off 115VAC. I just got back from the XIVth International Camporee about an hour ago. It was held at the Mataguay Scout Reservation northeast of San Diego, within sight of the Mount Palomar Astronomical Observatory. This is about 150 miles from my home and is located in another council. I used my batteries and inverter because there was no electrical outlet within a reasonable distance of the designated camping areas. Two of these batteries give me 3-4 nights of power for the inverter, depending upon how long I sleep each night and what the outside air temperature is. The Desert Pacific Council international camporee staff was willing to let me bunk inside an A-frame which has electricity, but the batteries gave me the flexibility to camp where I wanted to camp instead. Next year, I hope to resume going camping with my senior Scouts to some remote areas of Baja California for a full week during school spring vacation. I'll need to buy a small electrical generator to facilitate this, as lugging enough batteries to last a week would be difficult. Tell your husband that "time's a wasting!!", and that he's missing out on some really neat experiences by tying himself to a wall outlet. Please feel free to e-mail me directly, and I'll be most happy to help him sally forth successfully into the field with OSA. Yours in Scouting, Rodger Rodger Morris Asst. Scoutmaster, Troop 808 Wood Badge 416-18 Ventura County Council at Philmont, 1973 Camarillo, California, USA "I used to be a Beaver..."