When my husband was first put on oxygen he was given the portable tanks that only lasted about 8 hours. The medical supply company would deliver 10 tanks a week, Storage was a huge problem because there were so many tanks plus they were so heavy that my husband had problems pulling them around when he had to go some where.
The following July a tornado hit the area taking out the power for miles around. The power was out for 3 days and my husband was down to two tanks at the time. He was expecting a delivery the next day but they could not bring it out because they had no power to refill tanks. A call to the doctor fixed that problem real quick. He called the medical supply company and ordered a oxygen concentrator machine brought out ASAP.With in 2 hours the guy had one here and my husband was safe again since I had just bought a generator a few months before so we could use it to run the machine.
He still had to use the heavy tanks to lug around when ever we had to go some where and believe me when I say those tanks are heavy. It took both of us to load and unload from the van. They were one major pain and always drained us both when we had to load or unload them.
Soon my husband started seeing ads on tv from medical supply companies that were advertizing small compact oxygen machine that run off of car batteries and had an extra battery that could be used when the first battery ran down if we were where we could not charge them. My husband contacted one of the companies and they told him how the program worked and said they would send him the paperwork to have the doctor fill out and when they got it back they would send out a new concentrator and a portable oxygen machine. They even waved the co pay because we met their income guidelines. We were paying $50 a month for the other machine plus $20 a month for the portable tanks. This was our co pay after Medicare paid their part.
With in two weeks all the paper work and been filled out, the new equipment ordered and brought out and set up. We had the first company come and pick up the first machine and all the tanks. I like this new set up. It takes up less room then 3 of the big tanks did and with the power outages we have had since then the portable unit has been able to last long enough to provide air for him until power was restored.
By now you might be asking yourself what this has to do with prepping. Well it has a lot to do with it for those who depend on oxygen to survive if the grid happens to fail one day and can't be restored any time soon. They are going to need something they can depend on to help them breathe. Having a oxygen concentrator and a portable unit with a generator or solar powered battery bank will help them. They can use the big machine with the generator while charging the batteries with the generator at the same time.
Now if the power grid is down for a long time and they run out of gas for a generator there is still things that can be done to help them have oxygen. Wind, solar and even water wheel power can be used to charge a battery bank that can be used to power the machines. Even bike power could be used. Now it will take longer to charge batteries for the portable unit but it still can be done if you know what you are doing.
The portable unit's batteries will eventually no longer hold a charge and by that time all nursing homes and hospitals will be empty because there will be no one there to run them. You can always make a run to check them out and you might possibly find full tanks of air still there or even partially filled ones. Any of them will help. Make sure to grab the correct regulator for the size of tanks you find to so you can set the oxygen flow to the correct amount. You can also check medical supply stores if you have one near you.
So while you go about your any SHTF event preparing don't forget to learn all you can about how to provide oxygen for your loves ones that need it and prepare for that to so they have a chance of survival along with you.
Prepping Granny