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The Inogen One G5 mobile oxygen concentrator was released in the summer of 2019. It made great strides in terms of battery life, weight, and oxygen output; and to this day, it remains one of the most sought-after oxygen machines on the market. If you’ve just purchased one or you’re considering purchasing one in the near future, you may be wondering, “what now?”
Buying your first Inogen one G5 can be a very liberating experience, but without a plan, you may not be making the most of it. The G5 has a lot to offer in the way of additional features, so it’s important to educate yourself on them as soon as possible. We’ll take a look at some of these features and give you some ideas for how you can use them.
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If you have any questions about using your G5, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment section, contact us, or reach out to the manufacturer. It’s imperative that your concerns are addressed before you begin using your Inogen One G5 and that you follow the strict oxygen treatment plan that you created with your pulmonologist.
1.) Read The Inogen One G5 User Manual
Without a doubt, the most important thing you can do when you first receive your Inogen One G5 is to read and understand the G5 user manual. A user manual or “user guide” is a small booklet or pamphlet that comes with electronic devices such as a portable oxygen concentrator. Inside, you’ll find important information about how your new device works, how to clean and maintain it, and how to troubleshoot any issues you may have with it.
Many people ignore their user manual because they believe it will be a huge undertaking to read through it. However, unlike something like a car manual, portable oxygen manufacturers actually keep their manuals pretty concise and to the point. You won’t have to sit for hours on end to get through it, and if you’re short on time, you can always skip to the important parts and refer back to it later to finish the rest.
To get started, refer to the table of contents near the front of the booklet. Not every user manual is organized the same way, so the table of contents will help you find the exact information you’re looking for without having to flip through the whole thing. The Inogen One G5 manual contains chapters with separate sub-sections that you can read through. We recommend starting with chapters 2,3, and 4 which tell you how to use your new concentrator.
Another thing you should do right out of the box is to ensure that you have a way of carrying your G5 manual with you. The manual contains a glossary of symbols and troubleshooting information that will be helpful to you when you’re out of the house. G5 accessories like the backpack and custom carrying case are perfect for carrying personal belongings like your user manual. However, if you don’t have these, you may want to make photocopies of the important sections and keep them in your purse or pocket.
2.) Teach a Friend or Loved One About Your Inogen One G5
Once you’ve got a grip on how to use your Inogen One G5, it’s not a bad idea to teach a close friend or loved one how to use it. In case of an emergency like a COPD exacerbation, you’ll feel more secure knowing that someone close to you knows how to operate your portable oxygen concentrator. We recommend starting with people who are closest to you and who spend the most time with you such as a caretaker, your son or daughter, or a friend that you spend a lot of time with.
Start by teaching your loved one about the control panel. This is the part of the oxygen concentrator with the buttons that can be used to control your device. You can find this information under chapter 3 titled “user controls.” Remember that some buttons have more than one function. For example, holding the power button will turn the portable oxygen concentrator off, but tapping the power button will cause the backlight to illuminate.
There are a number of visual and audible signals that can be found in chapter 5 of your user manual as well which indicate things such as battery life, breath detection, column status, oxygen flow setting, and more. Some of these symbols look similar, so take some time to go through them with a friend and ensure you both understand them. If you encounter them while you’re out of the house, you’ll know how to react.
3.) Download The Inogen Connect App on Your Smartphone or Tablet
Inogen Connect is a revolutionary smartphone application that’s compatible with both the Inogen One G4 and the Inogen One G5. Once it’s on your phone, you will be able to connect it to your POC via Bluetooth technology. The app takes information from your oxygen machine and displays it on your phone such as battery life, flow setting, cannula and filter maintenance info, and oxygen purity alert notifications.
The great thing about this smartphone app is that it offers another way to use your Inogen One G5. If you like to store your concentrator in the G5 backpack or another carrying bag, it can be a pain having to stop and look at the display screen all the time. However, with the Inogen Connect, you’ll simply have to look at your phone and know that you always have up-to-date and accurate information about the status of your oxygen concentrator.
4.) Learn About Inogen One G5 Accessories
As an owner of one of the most portable and powerful pulse flow oxygen concentrators on the market, you’d be remiss not to look into all the accessories you can buy to customize your experience. The oxygen experts at Inogen are always looking for ways to improve user experience and the G5 accessories are a great way to do that.
Batteries
A standard Inogen One G5 purchase comes with a single-cell lithium-ion battery. These batteries are durable, lightweight, reliable, and will provide you with up to 6.5 hours of battery life while on a pulse flow setting of 1. For most oxygen patients, this is ample battery life to keep you going throughout the day until you can make it back home to an outlet, however, you have many other options at your disposal.
First and foremost, you can purchase an additional single-cell battery. This will double your battery life affording you up to 13 hours of freedom on a single charge. Alternatively, you could purchase a double-cell battery which offers twice as much battery life as a single battery. This would afford you about 19 hours of battery life on one charge using a setting of 1.
If you’re someone who’s away from home frequently or you’re planning a long trip, there’s no understating the convenience of having a second battery. With a second battery, you’ll always have a full battery to fall back on in case you stay out longer than expected or you forget to charge one of them. If you do purchase an additional battery, ensure that you use them both regularly. Batteries last longer when they go through a full charge-discharge cycle at least once a month.
Carrying Options
Besides battery life, carrying options are possibly the most important of all G5 accessories. The way that you carry your G5 portable oxygen concentrator can have an immense impact on the enjoyment you have in life, so you should ensure that the carrying option you choose matches your lifestyle and preferences.
The G5 custom carrying case offers a minimalist approach to carrying your portable oxygen concentrator. This case is thin and lightweight, but it’s sturdy enough to secure your G5 without it sliding around or falling out. If you’re planning on sticking close to home or you don’t need lots of room for personal space, the G5 custom carrying case is for you.
Alternatively, if you’re going on a long vacation such as a road trip or you’re going out of the country, you may not want to carry a backpack or handbag in addition to your G5 bag. If this is the case, we recommend the G5 backpack. With this accessory, you’ll be able to carry your G5 on your back along with a host of personal belongings. There’s even a special pouch where you can store extra batteries or charging cables.
More
There are several other G5 accessories you should be aware of in order to customize your oxygen experience. If you have more than one battery, you may be interested in the G5 external battery charger. This is a simple device allowing you to charge two batteries at once: one on your G5 itself and one on the external charger. It works with both the single batteries and double batteries and has the same recharge time as the G5 unit.
The DC power supply is another accessory option available to you. Unlike the AC power supply which allows you to charge your oxygen machine in the wall, the DC adapter lets you charge it in the car either while you’re driving or sitting in the passenger seat. The best part of all is that you don’t need to have your concentrator off. If you’re going on a road trip, you’ll be able to charge your oxygen concentrator the whole way there and back!
5.) Get Active Again
If you’ve been using bulky oxygen tanks, liquid oxygen tanks, or immobile home oxygen concentrators your whole life, you’re probably used to being stuck at home. Once you have a lightweight portable oxygen concentrator, it can be difficult to get back into the routine of going out to do things and being active. However, the Inogen One G5 will make it a lot easier with its lightweight design and long battery life.
“Getting active” doesn’t necessarily mean starting pulmonary rehab again. It just means getting back out and doing things that you used to. For example, you may want to start doing all your own grocery shopping again, go over to your neighbor’s house, or cook a meal for your friends and family. These are all things that we take for granted before we start oxygen, but after being on oxygen for years, it’s like a breath of fresh air (no pun intended).
While we can’t wait for you to get out there and experience all the things you’ve been missing without a reliable portable oxygen therapy device, it’s important that you speak with your pulmonologist first. Even though you have the freedom to do pretty much anything you want now, your doctor may advise that you ease into it rather than jumping head first.
6.) Plan a Trip You’ve Always Wanted to Take
There’s no better feeling than pulling out your calendar and starting to plan a trip that you’ve always wanted to take. Maybe you dream of taking a tour around Europe, South America, or maybe just relaxing on the beach in the Caribbean. No matter what your dream vacation is, the Inogen One G5 will be with you the whole way, providing you with a high oxygen output and enough battery life to stay out all day without limits.
One of the greatest things about the Inogen One G5 is that it’s approved by most major airlines and it’s also approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an organization that oversees safety regulations for commercial aviation in the United States. Most portable oxygen concentrators are FAA approved, however, pulse flow units like the Inogen G5 are preferred because they’re much smaller and easier to manage than continuous flow portable oxygen concentrators.
If you’ve ever traveled to a foreign country before, especially one where English isn’t a national language, you know it can be a little nerve racking getting around at first. You’ve probably spent hours trying to understand the public transportation system so that you don’t have to hassle with it when you get there. Unfortunately, if you have a bulky oxygen concentrator, you may be in for a whole host of issues with this as well.
Public transportation can be very crowded at times, especially if you’re in the middle of a big city. Oxygen tanks and continuous flow portable oxygen concentrators are not ideal for these situations because they take up a lot of space and they need to be wheeled behind you using a cart rather than being carried on your shoulder. There’s no understating the convenience of having a small and lightweight device when you’re exploring a place you’ve never been before.
7.) Share Your Experience With Other Oxygen Users
Once you’ve taken the time to get acquainted with the Inogen One G5 and you’ve put it to the test, why not share your experience with other oxygen users? Think back to when you first started looking for a portable oxygen concentrator. You were probably confused by terms like “pulse flow” or “continuous flow” and you were probably anxious to pick the right machine while still getting a great deal.
While anyone can sit there and rattle off statistics about the Inogen One G5, what really matters to people is the experience of other oxygen users like you. If the G5 enabled you to regain your mobility and do things that you never thought were possible, don’t keep it a secret, let everyone know! Conversely, if you had a bad experience with it, you should let that be known too. The more oxygen users understand your experience, the more educated they will be about what options they have.
Conclusion
In many ways, the Inogen One G5 took the oxygen therapy industry by storm. Since the early 2000s, oxygen concentrator manufacturers like Inogen, AirSep, and Philips Respironics have been striving to make their portable units smaller, lighter, and more reliable. Many POCs have excelled in these areas, but fallen short in others. But the Inogen One G5 is the first oxygen machine to really excel at pretty much everything.
The G5 has a fantastic battery life, offering the most powerful external battery of any unit on the market. In terms of weight, the G5 weighs in at only 4.7 pounds, which is light enough to carry over your shoulder wherever you go, even with the double-cell battery. And last but certainly not least, the G5 has the highest oxygen output of any pulse flow concentrator with a pulse flow setting of 6.
The Inogen One G5 is a great oxygen machine right out of the box, but if you want to make the most of it, follow the steps in this post. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about using your G5, feel free to get in touch with us. And if you have questions about oxygen therapy and your oxygen needs, consult your pulmonologist.
