Nebulizer @ First Aid Station

[lisadisney2003]

I know this is a stretch but, does anyone know if they have a nebulizer @ the first aid stations. I would guess NO but, it was a thought. My daughter has asthma and takes breathing treatments daily with her nebulizer. I am hesitant to take it with us as I am afraid it will be damaged by the airline baggage handlers. I thought they might have them at the first aid stations. If not, does anyone have any other ideas??? Thanks for your help!!

 

[karliebug]

We bought a small portable nebulizer for our daughter. They have battery packs, you can plug it in, or run it from a cigarette lighter in a car. It is small but powerful. Only about as big as a camera case. We take it with us everywhere-soccer practice, field trips, and also to disney. I highly recommend getting one.

 

[lisadisney2003]

We bought a small portable nebulizer for our daughter. They have battery packs, you can plug it in, or run it from a cigarette lighter in a car. It is small but powerful. Only about as big as a camera case. We take it with us everywhere-soccer practice, field trips, and also to disney. I highly recommend getting one.

Where did you find this and how expensive was it? Her asthma is newly diagnosed so, we are still kinda new at all this stuff.

 

[karliebug]

I bought it online. We didn't get the battery. I think it was around $60. If you get your dr. to write a prescription for it you can probably buy it at a local medical supply store and your insurance would probably cover it. We also carry it on airplanes with us with no problem. It is so much easier to carry than lugging a big unit with you. Do an online search for "portable nebulizers" and you should find what you need.

 

[Manda]

Where did you find this and how expensive was it? Her asthma is newly diagnosed so, we are still kinda new at all this stuff.

If she's newly diagnosed, you may want to press your doctor to also see if any other options may work for her. When my son started daily asthma treatments, it was just a few weeks before a trip to Disney. I scheduled an appointment to talk to him about how we could make this work on our trip and how we could make this work even in our daily life (fighting him into 30 minutes a day of sitting with the neb mask on). And, suddenly, he offers a Flovent inhaler instead. It works great and is so much easier and more portable. We have a daily Flovent prescription with an inhaler and air mask and albuterol for use when needed. If he gets really sick with a severe virus, we go back to Pulmicort through a nebulizer, but the Flovent inhaler works perfectly for daily maintenance. You may want to talk with your doctor about other options.

 

[KristinU]

We bought a small portable nebulizer for our daughter. They have battery packs, you can plug it in, or run it from a cigarette lighter in a car. It is small but powerful. Only about as big as a camera case. We take it with us everywhere-soccer practice, field trips, and also to disney. I highly recommend getting one.

Yep, we bought one of these too for our DS (he had infant asthma, which he has since grown out of - I'm so thankful for that!)
Ours was an Omron brand. We bought ours online somewhere and got a "package deal" with the battery pack as well. I want to say it was around $75. We actually liked it so much that we ended up just using that from there on out and not using the big one anymore.

Best of luck!

 

[minnie4me]

check w/ your dr office and see if they can recommend a home health care store in your area that can rent you one. If md writes a prescription for it it may help w/ cost via insurance.
how old is child? if 4 or older can get a Xopenex HFA inhaler to use while on vacation. I carry it around for emergencies and for short trips and now will take for vacation. If something is seriously wrong the md will say you need to go to ER, that was what ours did. Dose child use Pulmicort, a steroid, daily, or a bronchodialator, like albuterol or Xopenex? They do not work the same...

 

[fun4disney]

You said that you don't want to check it because you don't want it damaged. You could carry it on the plane with you. You could have that AND a small bag or purse and that would be fine.

I don't know exactly how they work and if you use it just when you need it or if you use it a certain number of times a day reguardless, but I would thinkg that you could go to First aid at the park and ask them to leave it there and when you needed to use it, go back to first aid.....OR you could rent a locker at the front of each park and leave it there. The lockers are right when you come in the gates at each park. Check and see if anyone has posted anything about this on the disABILITIES! board.

 

[TaraPA]

I agree with the OP about checking with your doctor for an inhaler to use on vacation rather than the nebulizer. I guess it depends on the severity of her asthma. My DS has very mild asthma & sometimes uses a nebulizer at home. I was worried that at WDW the high humidity would affect him (he was actually BETTER at WDW). We also got the inhaler for the trip & he barely needed it. Rest assured, if DD were to have an asthma attack, I'm sure they have something to give her a breathing treatment at the park/resort. If not, they will transport her to the 24 hour urgent care center for a treatment. Have a great trip!

 

[TaraPA]

I agree with the OP about checking with your doctor for an inhaler to use on vacation rather than the nebulizer. I guess it depends on the severity of her asthma. My DS has very mild asthma & sometimes uses a nebulizer at home. I was worried that at WDW the high humidity would affect him (he was actually BETTER at WDW). We also got the inhaler for the trip & he barely needed it. Rest assured, if DD were to have an asthma attack, I'm sure they have something to give her a breathing treatment at the park/resort. If not, they will transport her to the 24 hour urgent care center for a treatment. Have a great trip!

 

[Bec3b1g]

If your daughter has asthma, I wouldn't travel ANYWHERE without having a nebulizer with you at all times (not at a first aid station or back at the hotel). DS (11) has had asthma since birth so we've gotten lots of practice at managing it.

Definitely call about getting a portable nebulizer or bring an inhaler if your daughter is old enough. You'll be walking around quite a bit, and I'm not sure when you're going, but the heat could be an issue as well. I always carry a cell-phone too and make sure you know where central first aid is in the park. Maybe even program their number into your phone. We track peak flows twice a day while away from home (once a day when we are at home) so you may also want to ask about a peak flow meter. Not sure of the age of your daughter so this may not apply.

BTW, flovent is a daily maintenance med and won't work for acute attacks. You'll still need the nebulizer or inhaler.

Anytime we go out of town, I always determine how far away the ER is from where we are staying. We have to stay within a 30 min radius of an ER. UCI is really close to the park...within 5 miles.

Good luck!

**OOPS....looks like you're going to WDW, in which case the ER info doesn't apply. Sorry!

 

[wrighter]

You didn't mention how old your DD is. If she is too young to use an inhaler, ask your pediatrician for an Aerochamber. It's a little mask with a tube attached. You put the mask over their face, then squirt the inhaler into the tube (and hence, into the mask.) It only takes a minute or two and your'e done. We used this when my DD was having problems and it worked like a charm. It is much cheaper than a nebulizer and travels anywhere. I know it was fairly new last year when our doc prescribed it, but we're so glad he didn't make us use a nebulizer.

In fact, one of our good friends was using a nebulizer on her DD and when we told her about the Aerochamber she switched and was SO glad to say goodbye to the nebulizer.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

 

[dana1003]

both of our twin girls use nebulizers..not everday however..we only use it when she looks like he's starting to have trouble and then we treat them for like a week. they take albuterol and xopenex. our insurance did not cover the machine. we had to buy it ($100) luckily we had a really nice dr who gave us another one from his office. we took them w/us to disney in dec and we put it right in our luggage. we had too much too carry so that was tucked away nice and safe there. i would call and find out. my guess is that that would have one . because of florida weather and the numbers of kids w/asthma i cant see them not having something to treat them with.i would take it anyway. good luck.(btw-our twins are 4)

 

[dijid]

If you are going to do more traveling, I highly recommend getting a portable nebulizer. I also paid about $75 for an Omron one and have been quite happy with it. Be sure to check the compatibility of your meds with the neb before purchasing. Some are not compatible with Pulmicort respules, which my DS took until he was 6 and able to switch to the Turbohaler/Flexhaler.

And even if you can get an inhaler for this trip, I would not recommend relying on it. It takes a while to really be able to do it right (even with a spacer) and my Dr. (and in my experience, too) swears that it's not as efficacious for small children as albuterol in a nebulizer.

Takine time each day for the breathing treatments sucks. It does, no other way to say it. But the alternative is a child that can't breathe, and that would suck even more!

 

[alisha8]

This may not help but, about 10 years ago we hauled a nebulizer, rented a locker for it, and then discovered they had them at the baby changing station in MK!

Surely they still do!

 

[lisadisney2003]

Thanks to all of you for all the wonderful tips. FYI - my DD is 4 and currently uses Pulmicort through an inhaler at least once per day.

I have found out that the First Aid Centers do not have inhalers but, you can check yours in with them for the day so you don't have to carry them around the park.

Turner Pharmacy rents nebulizers ($10/day or $40/week) and will deliver to your resort for $15 fee.

I have a call into our doctor to see about the inhaler option. That would be my preference since we could easily carry it with us all day. I am not sure exactly how she will do in the heat and humidity for extended periods of time. The climate here in Houston is similar but, we don't spend too much time away from the a/c if you know what I mean.

 

[jlcd]

Just so you know, you can carry on your nebulizer. I am too afraid of checking ours and possibly losing or damaging it.. I put it in my carry on bag and let them know it is there when we go through security. Never had a problem and I feel much better knowing it is with me.

 

[dijid]

Since your DD is only 4, you are stuck with the nebulizer for the Pulmicort. It's against label to use a Flexhaler with a child younger than 6. The nebulizer would be in place of albuterol in the nebulizer.

If you get a portable nebulizer, you can run it on battery power while on a bus to the parks and then check it in the 1st aid station. If you do get the Omron one, I recommend getting the extension tubing as there's quite a bit of vibration in the main unit if you use it directly with the mouth piece.

Good luck! I know how hard this can be.