Traveling with medical equipment and supplies

The supply math comes first

• Carry more than the trip needs — a delayed flight home should be an annoyance, not a supply crisis. For ostomy, catheter and wound supplies, pack generously beyond the itinerary.
• Critical supplies travel in hand luggage, never in a checked bag that can take a different vacation from you.
• Keep things out of hot cars and cargo heat. Adhesives, barriers and formula degrade in Florida-grade heat — the trunk of a parked car is the worst place for a month of supplies.
• Bring the written list: equipment model numbers, product reference numbers from the boxes, medications, and your prescribers’ phone numbers.

Flying

• Medical devices are generally handled separately from your ordinary luggage allowance — most US airlines treat a CPAP or a portable nebulizer as a medical device rather than a carry-on item. Confirm with the airline; policies are theirs, not ours.
• Medically necessary liquids — formula, distilled water in reasonable quantities — are allowed through security when you declare them at screening. Expect them to be inspected; allow extra time.
• Wheelchairs and walkers can typically be used to the gate and gate-checked. Powered mobility devices involve battery rules that the airline sets — call the airline well ahead, and label everything.
• If you use oxygen, arrangements run through your oxygen supplier and the airline and take real lead time. Start well before the trip.

Cruises

Half of South Florida seems to leave from a cruise port eventually. Cruise lines have accessibility desks that arrange cabin needs — distilled water for a CPAP, sharps disposal, accessible cabins — but they arrange them in advance, not at the gangway. Contact the line’s special-needs desk when you book, and carry your core supplies aboard with you.

Road trips

The simplest mode, with two traps: heat (supplies live in the cabin with the air conditioning, not the trunk) and the assumption that any pharmacy en route can replace a specialty supply. Most cannot. Your specific barrier, catheter or formula is a stocked-by-a-supplier item, so leave with enough.

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