Important note: This article is general information about restoring a bedroom and home after a flood. It is not medical advice. How to use a CPAP or other breathing machine, how it should be set, and whether a machine that got wet can still be used are questions for the treating doctor and the equipment supplier. If an older person has trouble breathing, chest pain, sudden confusion or unusual drowsiness, call 1669 immediately.

A story from the field: the first nights Dad slept without his machine

Khun Nun lives in a two-storey townhouse in a soi off Pracha Chuen Road in Bang Sue with her father, Khun Sompong, who is 71. Two years ago he was snoring loudly, waking with a jolt in the middle of the night and still feeling sleepy all day. After a sleep study, his doctor diagnosed sleep apnea and prescribed a CPAP machine to use every night. Since then he has slept far better, stopped nodding off in the afternoon, and is in a noticeably better mood. Everyone in the house can tell the difference.

Because the stairs are hard for him, his bedroom is on the ground floor. The CPAP sat on a low bedside table, with the power adapter resting on the floor. Next to it were a bottle of distilled water for the humidifier chamber, a cloth for wiping the mask, and two power strips.

In early October 2026 heavy rain fell for several days in a row. In the middle of the night water flowed into the soi and then into the house, rising to about 40 centimeters. Khun Nun woke her father and helped him upstairs. She managed to grab the machine and the mask, but the power cord and adapter were already under water. For the next two nights her father slept without his CPAP. He snored louder than ever, woke up with headaches, and was short-tempered all day.

When the water finally drained on the fourth day, the ground-floor bedroom was coated with a thin layer of mud. The mattress was soaked through, the curtains were stained yellow, and a heavy musty smell rolled out as soon as she opened the door. Khun Nun's head was full of questions. Is the machine she carried upstairs still safe? Can she plug in the adapter that went under water? When can her father move back into his own room with his machine? And if the room is treated with ozone, what should happen to a device that delivers air straight into her father's lungs every night?

Bang Sue has many families like this, in the townhouses and shophouses around Pracha Chuen, Wong Sawang, Tao Poon and the canal-side sois, where an older parent sleeps downstairs to avoid the stairs. When the ground floor floods, it is exactly that parent's bedroom that takes the hit.

What Khun Nun needed was not a single miracle product, but a clear sequence: who to call about the machine, what to throw away, what the room needs before her father can sleep there again, and how to make sure the treatment itself does not put his equipment at risk. That sequence is what the rest of this article sets out, step by step, so that other families in the same situation can move from panic to a plan in a day or two rather than weeks.

Why a CPAP user's bedroom needs more thought than an ordinary room

A CPAP machine draws in air from the room, passes it through a filter and delivers it into the user's airway all night long. In other words, the air in that bedroom is air the older person breathes directly for many hours. If the room still holds mold spores and musty odors, the filter clogs faster than normal and the user may feel irritation in the nose or throat.

• Mold. Concrete walls, wood and mattresses that stay damp begin growing mold within days. Spores float in the air even when you cannot see them and can cause a stuffy nose, coughing or allergy flare-ups. Older people with long-term health conditions need to be especially careful.
• Germs from floodwater. Water that passed over roads and through drains carries bacteria that settle on floors, bed legs, the bedside table and cables dragged across the floor. These are exactly the places hands touch every night when putting on and taking off the mask.
• Leptospirosis. Rats escaping the water often hide inside homes. Their urine mixed into water and mud is the source of this disease. Anyone cleaning should always wear boots and gloves.
• Electricity and moisture. Adapters, cables and power strips that have been submerged should never simply be plugged back in. They need to be checked by the supplier or a qualified technician first.

The World Health Organization points out that the health effects of a flood do not end when the water goes down, because damp and damage to buildings remain for some time. For someone who depends on a breathing machine at night, that risk is closer to home than for anyone else.

What the family carries: money, time and Dad's sleep

Health and sleep. Every night an older person goes without the machine the doctor prescribed may mean poor sleep, daytime drowsiness and a higher risk of falls from fatigue. Families need to contact the doctor and the supplier quickly to find a way through, such as borrowing a backup machine during repairs.

Money. Damaged adapters, cables, tubing or masks need replacing. A soaked mattress has to go. If the room keeps growing mold, filters need changing more often too.

Time and morale. A son or daughter with a full-time job has to take leave to scrub the room, chase electricians, phone the supplier and look after a father who cannot sleep, all at once. The fatigue builds up and the whole household feels the strain.

What many homes try, and why it falls short for a breathing machine user

• Scrubbing with strong bleach. It leaves a harsh smell hanging in a closed room, which the machine then draws in and passes on to the user all night. It also cannot reach inside wood or curtains.
• Running fans all day. The wall surface dries faster, but spores are blown around and the concrete inside stays damp.
• Air freshener sprays. They mask the smell for a while without removing the cause, and the fragrance drifts straight to the machine's air intake.
• Painting over the stains. If the wall is still damp, the paint will bubble and the black spots will be back within weeks.
• Drying the CPAP in the sun or with a hot-air blower. This can damage parts. Follow the machine's manual and the supplier's advice only.

Deal with the CPAP first, then the room

The right order is to separate the machine and all of its accessories from the room first, and only then clean the room. Here are the general steps many families follow, alongside questions to the doctor and the supplier.

1. Do not plug in a machine or adapter that got wet, even if it looks dry. Contact the supplier to have it checked first.
2. Photograph the damaged machine and accessories and note the model and serial number, in case you need them for the service center or an insurance claim.
3. Ask about a backup machine. Some suppliers lend or rent one during repairs. Ask the doctor what precautions to take while your parent is sleeping without the machine.
4. Move the CPAP, mask, tubing, water chamber, spare filters and all medicines out of the house before the day of ozone treatment. Ozone can make silicone and some rubber parts age faster, and nothing that touches the airway should be in the room during treatment.
5. Throw away mattresses and pillows soaked in floodwater. Do not try to dry them and bring them back into a room where someone uses a breathing machine.

The solution: bedroom ozone treatment and whole-house disinfection by the WHD team

Once the machine and medical equipment are out of the house, the World Health Disinfection (WHD) team carries out ozone treatment and disinfection fogging, following on from mud removal and repairs.

Ultra-low-volume (ULV) fogging uses CHEMGENE HLD4H, a disinfectant used in healthcare settings. The very fine mist drifts around bed legs, under cabinets, into wall corners and door frames, and onto high-touch points such as light switches, bedside grab rails and the bathroom door handle.

Closed-room bedroom ozone treatment sends ozone gas behind wardrobes, into curtains and into gaps a cloth cannot reach, helping to destroy airborne mold spores and break down the molecules behind musty odors. When the treatment time is up, ozone reverts to oxygen and the room is then ventilated.

Our process, from survey to Dad sleeping in his own room again

1. Survey and questions. The team asks whether anyone in the house uses a breathing machine or other medical equipment, then checks the water line, mold stains and smelly spots.
2. Clean-up advice. We tell you which mattresses, rugs or furniture should be thrown out, where mud must be fully washed away, and where an electrician should check first.
3. Confirm all medical equipment has been removed before every job starts.
4. Disinfection fogging with Chemgene HLD4H across every area the water reached, including the bathroom and the hallway your parent uses at night.
5. Ozone treatment of the bedroom and any musty rooms, with the room closed and nobody in the house.
6. Ventilation and re-check. Doors and windows are opened until no ozone smell remains, problem spots are re-checked, and we advise on ongoing humidity control.

After that, bring back the CPAP once the supplier has checked it, together with a new mattress, clean the accessories according to the manual and change the filters as advised.

10 reasons Bang Sue families choose WHD to restore an elderly parent's bedroom

1. The team asks about breathing machines and medical equipment before every job.
2. We insist the CPAP and all accessories are moved out before treatment, with no shortcuts.
3. Ozone treatment tackles musty odor and airborne spores in the very air the machine draws in each night.
4. We use Chemgene HLD4H, a disinfectant used in healthcare settings.
5. Fine-mist fogging reaches under the bed and into corners an older person cannot bend down to clean.
6. No perfume or harsh chemical smell is left in the bedroom.
7. We also treat the hallway and bathroom your parent uses at night, not only the bedroom.
8. Dust mite removal is available for the new mattress and pillows.
9. We advise on humidity control after treatment so mold does not come back to clog the machine's filter.
10. Easy contact by phone and LINE, with appointments that do not clash with your parent's doctor visits.

Before and after

A customer's voice (example scenario)

"When I called, the first thing the team asked was what machine my father uses at night. They told me to take the machine and mask out of the house before the treatment day, and to send the adapter that went under water to the shop for checking. Afterwards the room had no musty smell at all. Dad moved back downstairs to his own room and does not have to climb the stairs every night."

— A daughter caring for her father, Pracha Chuen area, Bang Sue

Questions worth writing down before you call the doctor and the supplier

When you are tired and worried, it is easy to forget what you meant to ask. Many families find it helpful to write a short list before picking up the phone. You might ask the supplier whether the machine and adapter can be inspected, how long that usually takes, whether a loan or rental machine is available in the meantime, and which parts, such as the tubing, mask cushion or water chamber, they recommend replacing after a flood. Ask too how the accessories should be cleaned once they come back into a freshly treated room, and how often the filter should be changed while the house is still drying out.

For the doctor or the sleep clinic, the questions are different. You might ask what to watch for on the nights your parent sleeps without the machine, whether there are any sleeping positions or other measures they suggest for the short term, and which warning signs mean you should seek help straight away. If your parent also has heart disease, lung disease or diabetes, mention it, so the advice fits the whole picture. Write the answers down and keep them with the machine's paperwork. This is not something WHD can answer for you, but having those answers makes it much easier for us to plan the house side of the work around your parent's real needs.

Rethinking the bedroom layout while it is empty

A flooded bedroom is a hard thing to deal with, but it also gives you a rare moment when the room is empty and you can set it up better than before. Since the room is going to be cleaned, fogged and ozone-treated anyway, this is a good time to think about how the CPAP and its cables are arranged when everything comes back.

• Raise the machine. A sturdy bedside shelf at mattress height keeps the CPAP and its adapter well off the floor, so a few centimeters of water next time will not reach them.
• Keep cables tidy and off the ground. Clip power cords along the back of furniture and use a power strip that can be mounted on the wall rather than left on the floor.
• Plan an easy route to the bathroom. Older adults often get up at night. A clear path with a small night light reduces the risk of tripping over the tubing or cables.
• Choose easy-clean surfaces. Washable curtains, a bed frame with space underneath for cleaning, and fewer fabric items near the floor all make it easier to keep mold away.
• Prepare an emergency bag. Keep a sturdy waterproof bag nearby so that if water rises again, the machine, mask, tubing and adapter can be packed and carried upstairs in one go.

None of this replaces advice from the supplier on how the machine should be positioned, but it can make the next rainy season far less frightening for the whole family.

Keeping the bedroom healthy in the weeks that follow

After treatment, a few everyday habits help the bedroom stay fresh and protect the machine. Open the windows for a while each morning when the weather allows. Keep the bedside table a little higher off the floor and the cables off the ground. Wipe the bedside table and the floor around the bed regularly with a clean damp cloth. Watch the corners behind the wardrobe and the bottom of the curtains, because that is where mold tends to start again quietly. If you notice the musty smell coming back, or new dark spots, call the team for a re-check rather than waiting until the filter clogs.

It also helps to keep a short record of what was done and when: the date the room was fogged and ozone-treated, which items were thrown away, when the supplier checked the machine and when the filters were changed. When the doctor asks how things have been at home, you will have clear answers ready.

Frequently asked questions

Q: The CPAP only got a little wet. Can I wipe it dry and keep using it?
A: Please do not decide on your own. Contact the supplier or service center to have it checked first, and ask the doctor about sleeping arrangements in the meantime.

Q: Can the CPAP stay in the room during ozone treatment if we cover it with a cloth?
A: We do not recommend it. The machine, mask, tubing and every piece of medical equipment should be moved out of the house before treatment.

Q: After ozone treatment, when can Dad sleep in the room again?
A: Once the room has been ventilated enough that no ozone smell remains. The team will tell you the right timing for the size of the room. Many families choose to bring their parent back the following day for extra peace of mind.

Q: Should we change the machine's filter?
A: While the room is damp and dusty from repairs, the filter can get dirty quickly. Follow the machine's manual and the supplier's advice.

Q: We also have an oxygen concentrator. What should we do?
A: Move it out before treatment just like the CPAP, and if it got wet, have the supplier check it before use.

Q: Only the ground floor flooded. Do we need to treat upstairs too?
A: If upstairs has no smell or stains, it may not be necessary. The team will inspect and advise based on the actual condition.

Help Mom or Dad sleep soundly in their own room again

Let us know someone in the house uses a CPAP or breathing machine, and the team will plan the work safely from the start.

Book Ozone Treatment - Click Here

See Disinfection Service - Click Here

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com

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• External sources: WHO: Floods · Department of Health, Thailand