Billings Clinic Patients Using Home Medical Devices Prepared for Disaster

JOLIET — Whether it’s a CPAP machine or an oxygen tank, more than 700 Billings Clinic patients rely on durable medical devices in their homes to survive. When disasters like fires, floods or power outages strike, Billings Clinic has several emergency plans to stay prepared, something Joliet resident Harold Nelson has seen over his 12 years of using their services.

At 85 years old, the last thing Nelson wants is to end up in a nursing home.

“I’d rather die in this damn chair than go to a nursing home,” Nelson said Wednesday at his Joliet home.

Due to a diagnosis of emphysema, he requires breathing support in the form of an oxygen tank.

“This is number one,” Nelson said, pointing to his home oxygen machine.

dsfsd_1.10.1.jpg — Harold Nelson in his home in Joliet.

Thanks to Billings Clinic and its home oxygen and medical equipment program, Nelson doesn’t even have to leave his chair.

“They kept me alive, let’s put it that way. I know that for a fact,” Nelson said.

“We provide oxygen, CPAP, BiPAP, ventilator, orthopedic equipment, wound care, ostomy, basically anything you could need for home care,” said program coordinator Kelsey Berg.

Berg said there are currently 775 patients renting oxygen machines within a 100-mile radius.

“We do about 800 deliveries a month. They’re cutting about 200 deliveries a month. So it’s really busy. We fill about 35,000 oxygen tanks in a year,” Berg said.

Unpredictable weather in Montana has raised concerns about what could happen to many patients if there are prolonged power outages.

fdsfd_1.15.1.jpg — Harold Nelson’s home oxygen apparatus.

Over the past month, Miles City and Missoula have experienced high winds that knocked out power for several days. Wildfires pose an additional risk.

“We always have excess oxygen at home. So if the power goes out, which it often does, Montana,” Berg said. “A lot of people have portable oxygen units that run on batteries that can be charged in their cars.”

The Billings Clinic refills its own tanks and is available to patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“We also have liquid oxygen, which we can fill into stationary and portable liquid devices. And then we do general distribution. They do a good job of being our backup if something goes wrong,” Berg added.

It’s a backup plan for the worst-case scenario, preserving lives and sustaining relationships beyond what most people think.

STILL FOR JOE3_1.23.1.jpg — Harold Nelson and Kelsey Berg

“You become family, and watching that unfold, I can personally say that I’ve been through things there that hurt just as much as if it was your brother or sister, so that’s the hardest part,” Berg said. “Harold is there, that’s why I called Harold. He’s my right-hand man.”

“He’s my son,” Nelson said of Berg. “I’ve seen so much change in oxygen care since he took over and ran my position. It’s really made it so much better for everybody. And I know even the people who work with him, work under him, will tell you the same thing. So he’s been my savior, really.”