Drive Medical Med-Aire Low Air Loss Mattress Replacement System - Alternating Pressure - Pressure Redistribution Mattress - Moisture Wicking Cover - Home or Facility Use

Purchased this mattress for my Mom who has been bedbound for over 2 1/2 years now. Prior to this purchase, we had the alternating pressure overlay mattress from Drive. In fact, we had gone through more than 3 sets of those overlays. They worked just fine to prevent bedsores. But she still complained about "her bed" not being comfortable, even on the lowest setting. I lay on her bed several times, when she was up in the chair and she was right about it not being all that comfortable. The individual air pockets inflate and deflate as intended, but it does feel as if a ball is rising up under you as it inflates. And when it is under certain spots on your body, it can be hurtful for just a couple of minutes. Not painful, just hurts some. Last week, the pump was starting to make a clicking noise, as it has done in the past, when it was going out, so I went online to get a replacement setup. Found this instead, and at a good price with an 18 month warranty. I worked as a nurse for over 37 years, so have used this type of mattress in the hospital with good results. There is a more expensive one, that holds the air for 24 hours of power loss, but since I am not planning on throwing out Moms' old mattress and foam covering, this should be fine. Mom loves this mattress. Said it feels great to her on the lowest pressure setting. I am using a thick blanket and a 4 inch memory foam topper on the bedsprings with this mattress on top. You need something over those springs before you use this mattress so you don't accidentally puncture it. One problem with this mattress, cannot get a sheet on it if it is tied down to the movable parts of the hospital bed, and that is the only way you can tie it. So, we are using on top of the mattress, a disposable waterproof pad, then a ripstop nylon covering which is waterproof, that is 9 feet long and 60 inches wide. On top of that we have a velour covering the same size. I know, that sounds like it is way big, but she cannot move herself at all and when she is raised up in the bed, she will slide down to the foot, no matter what sheet is under her. The mattress cover is slick and the ripstop nylon is slick, which helps me to move her in bed. I always have the rails up, don't want her to fall out of bed. Having extra fabric under her, hanging over the foot of the bed, means that I won't be pulling it out from under her when I move her up in bed by myself, as I do stand at the head of the bed and pull the sheets under her and not under her arms. I will try to post a picture later.....might be easier to understand in a picture. Sept 2nd update The ripstock nylon is similar to the slide sheet sold here on amazon. I bought 2 of those in the past and they are expensive. The nylon fabric mentioned in the above review was purchased by the yard elsewhere, trimmed side to side with pinking shears, so no sewing necessary. It is 60 inches wide and the same fabric used to waterproof outdoor gear, like tents and jackets. Very thin, sheer type fabric and really strong, can't tear it at all. And it is a more reasonable price than the slide sheets. You need 2 layers under the person, so one slides over the other, or in the case of this mattress, which has a nylon cover, one layer is all you need.

Incredibly easy to set up. Everything comes in a single box which isn't heavy at all. Works well. Whatever you do, choose a mattress with "low air loss" -- do not buy a mattress that ONLY offers alternating pressure! There is good evidence from studies that "low air loss" mattresses help prevent and heal bed sores, but no good evidence for alternating pressure. This one has both. you can disable the alternating pressure if you like) The low air loss on this mattress is CONTINUOUS, which is a good thing! Some other mattresses (such as several from invacare) have low air loss that is only "on demand" -- you have to push a button which then only activates it for perhaps 20 minutes. I believe continuous low air loss is sure to work more effectively. The noise is perhaps twice as loud as a big aquarium pump. I found I could eliminate much of the noise if I paid careful attention to the hose connector where it plugs into the pump, a slight gap will makes a loud hissing noise. Press it in well, or tie it if you have to, and no problem. There also are some vibrations generated that propagate through the bed frame, but aren't felt by the patient unless they lean on a rail. If you had absolutely no other noise generating devices you still might be annoyed by it, but I'm managing to sleep fine in the same room. What is low air loss? There are zillions of tiny holes on the mattress constantly emitting small amounts of air, which prevents and heals bed sores by keeping skin cool and dry. In order for a low air loss mattress to effectively prevent bed sores, you need to minimize the amount of material between the patient and mattress! That means ideally a thin cotton sheet only, or even no sheet and only underpad if there is an existing sore. I'm also using a thin disposable bed pad, and looking to buy a variety specially designed to breathe well for this purpose. Update: Am using kendall "maxiflo", specially designed for low air loss matresses -- good results. In the event of a power outage, the mattress would eventually deflate creating an uncomfortable and unsafe surface, so that's something to think about. It'd probably be ok for a bit, but I have a foam mattress I can swap in if we get stuck with a long outage. Haven't been through it yet. Update: I bought a yamaha 2000 backup generator converted to run on propane, enough to keep refrigerator going too. Other recommendations for bed sore prevention: Baza Perineal Lotion after regular changes (moisture barrier). Sage "prevalon" heel protector (heel & tailbone are 2 most common bed sores) For bed sore treatment: xenaderm ointment (prescription only). Keep pressure off, regular turns every 2 hours, cool & dry. Low air loss is no substitute for regular turns but does really help

Very poor quality! Do not buy this mattress. The alternating pressure stopped working on the first mattress we ordered after 10 days. We ordered a replacement and the alternating pressure never worked. Plus Amazon required us to box and return both which is very difficult to do once air has been in the mattress. And the manufacturer never responded to my attempts to do any troubleshooting.

This was a fantastic low air loss mattress. These ("low air loss mattresses") used to cost thousands of dollars for hospitals when they first came out and doctors had to get approval to order one of the few bought or rented by the hospital. Used for people with bad bedsores or at high risk (barely able to move if at all, very little protective body fat (superskinny and frail), etc). That was 20 or 30 years ago. Over time it became so obvious that this type of mattress was critical for helping prevent/heal bedsores (& the pain that came with them) and they became standard in hospitals for those high risk patients. My dad was sent home with an order for one - this exact model - and it was terrific. It's for a (home) hospital bed - not sure if could put on top of a regular bed or not. Would check by calling the manufacturer - friendly last time I spoke with them after a (rare) leak. After maybe 5 yrs, the mattress sprung a leak and by then my dad really needed a replacement quickly so rather than trial and error of searching for the leak and fixing it, I checked Amzn and low and behold, there it (this) was, deliverable promptly. I was stunned it was available and only (for what it is and the extreme benefit it provides) abt $450 abt 3 yrs ago. Arrived, quickly set up (an hour maybe??) and it was perfect. My dad's helper lamented that another patient of hers would benefit so much from one of these too and she couldn't imagine why his daughter (a nurse) hadn't gotten one for him. I said she probably thinks they're not available outside of a hospital and maybe still thinks of them as costing several thousand dollars - and I gave her the link to pass on. She did and the daughter/nurse ordered right away. She was so grateful - she had had no idea they weren't restricted/were available for home use and her dad was much more comfortable! If your parent or sibling or spouse can't move much (maybe needs you or a paid caregiver in to help them get out of bed, get dressed, can't move well including with Parkinson's, etc.), would seriously consider getting this for them - for the right person, this is money very well spent. (And I found it very comfortable to when I occasionally slept on it as a trial.) It's got a quiet little hum of a sound - really don't notice it.

WORKS AWESOME FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BED SOARS

This mattress has been a lifesaver for me! I hated the mattress I had before so much that I resorted to sleeping in my comprehensive wheelchair which destroyed my posture and circulation. I've now had this mattress for about 2 years and, while my posture is not reversible, my circulation is back to its normal. After a bad fall resulting in a couple of broken bones earlier this year, spending time in bed has increased tenfold during my recovery. It would've been torture without this mattress. Give yourself some peace of mind, though, and splurge on the warranty. I haven't had any problems (aside from an air cell coming disconnected once, which was easily remedied by unzipping the mattress and reconnecting the cell), but I'm protective of the mattress because the out-of-pocket cost for a new one is no easy feat for me.

So far so good. Ordered this in early-August and have been very pleased with product to date. My brother (diagnosed with M/S) was recently released from hospital and was sent home with a gel pad which was absolutely miserable to lay on for an extended period or time. Sleeping was very uncomfortable and each morning he woke up with sore limbs & burning itchy buttocks. I was so nervous he would end up with a bed sore and started researching Low Air Loss Mattresses which I knew would help maintain skin integrity. Well, we're approx. 45 days into it and he's doing very well and loving his new air mattress. This particular mattress does everything it claims (so far that is). Setting go from soft to firm. Only one drawback: noise level of the pump...after placing a pillow between pump and footboard, however; pump noise was substantially reduced. Set-up was simple and I am not set-up savvy with anything. The best part was the cost. Researched several websites & Amazon was the least expensive (saving over $900 from one competitor for identical product) - so that was a real bargain! (BLESS YOU, AMAZON)! For anyone looking at this mattress or similar items, give it a try. My brother's insurance did not cover this item, that's why price was so important. But again, Amazon was the absolute best price I found and he is thrilled with his new bed thus far. In other words...if he he sleeps well, my hubby & I sleep well and for the past several weeks, me & my husband have been sleeping like babies! lol So, YES, we love this mattress , too! :)

My 138 lb elderly disabled mother is on the third one of these in less than 3 years. First one did not last a year. Faulty pump was replaced under warranty. About a week out of warranty, mattress softened and was bottoming out. There are numerous horizontal bladders that lay side by side to form the mattress surface. Found numerous bladders leaking in the same place, which is at the ends of the longitudinal Heat-seal that runs the length of each bladder in its center. Replacement mattress was about as much as a whole new system so we bought another complete system. Less than one year later, THAT mattress began softening and once again, leaks were found in several bladders in the same location as previously. Drive replaced the mattress under warranty. 7 months later, the mattress began bottoming out again. Once again, we were out of warranty. This time we were able to harvest some intact bladders from mattress #1 and #2 to replace the leaking ones in mattress #3. We feel that there is a design flaw in the individual bladders in the mattress for leaks to be occurring repeatedly in the exact same spots. We are very careful users. We do not sit on the mattress or bend it. The only weight on the mattress is that of my mother, and except for sitting her up for transfers, her 138 pounds is evenly distributed across the mattress surface. On the positive side, her skin condition has been ok, although she is also turned every few hours in addition to having the alternation of the mattress bladders. The continuous low air loss feature is of no benefit to us, as we need to keep the mattress covered with pads etc for incontinence protection. When we first investigated alternating mattress alternatives, we considered systems from the major manufacturer of hospital-quality mattresses. Those were much more costly than this system though, so we thought we'd try this first. In hindsight, we should probably have spent more up front for a higher quality product - as the constant failures of these mattresses have been annoying and time consuming to address. It would be great if the manufacturer would examine this problem and redesign it, either with a different way of dividing each bladder, or with heavier vinyl, or with some sort of reinforcement at these very weak points. On the positive side, the mattress does alternate and is much more effective than the thin alternating toppers that cost about $100 or less. It works well for about the first 6-9 months until the vinyl begins to develop small tears at the ends of the heat-sealed center seam in some of the bladders. Very frustrating! If you decide to go with this mattress, be sure to place some foam under it, so when it begins to bottom out, your patient will not be down on bedsprings or a hard surface. We use a double layer camping pads between the springs and the mattress.