Dear JWR
I am fairly new to prepping but as a lifelong asthma patient I quickly realized that I cannot depend solely on my current nebulizer WTSHTF. This is because it plugs into a wall and does not have any other alternative way to work when the grid goes down. When I did some research, however, I found a beautiful thing.
There are now handheld nebulizers that have both AC and and DC car adapter abilities as well as a rechargeable [gel cell] battery. They cost around $200 or slightly more but I can tell you that this is a bargain compared to dying of an asthma attack because there was no power and the hospital is not an option for one reason or another. For other people who will want to do this kind of prep for themselves or family members with asthma a prescription is required for the medicine and also the nebulizer.
The most common issue though is to acquire this unit, it seems to be on backorder from most of the local places I have tried. So for preppers I advise start the process now if you need one of these. I was just told today by one company that they haven’t yet received their order that was placed in August .
Respectfully, – SKT
JWR Replies: This is a similar requirement than the CPAP machines needed by some folks with sleep apnea. (This has been discussed previously in SurvivalBlog,.,and elaborated on further in a subsequent letter about refrigeration for insulin.) Thankfully, most nebulizers have fairly modest current requirements.