I realise that I have posted this question previously and I have received excellent responses however at this hospital we are still debating over what level of protection is needed in our new Renal Unit.
I believe that Body Protected is adequate however my colleague in Biomedical Engineering believes it should be Cardiac Protected, I might just add that prior to working in Building and Engineering (the dark side) I had worked in the BmE Department for 12 years, 7 as the Manager of that department, so it's not B&E VS BmE. The rational for recommending it to be Cardiac Protected is that there maybe patients with a Venous Catheter (Vas Cath) which could touch the heart, however my interpretation of the standard AS 2500 is that even with a VAS Cath it still can be Body Protected as the catheter is not touching the right or left Ventricle. Please correct me if I have this totally wrong. The other issue is that the Gambro machines we use have an earth connection point on the back of the machine and Gambro recommend that the machine is connected to a wall earthing stud if the machine is used when a patient has a Vas Cath inserted. My questions is does a Renal Unit have to be Cardiac Protected? Do people using Gambro machines connect the machine to an EP earth stud when dialysing patients with a Vas Cath? Do you have a location in your unit designated Cardiac Protected? The word from the Gambro Engineer is that most Renal Units in Victoria are wired as Cardiac Protected. Is this true as it's not what the last lot of responses indicated? Help to resolve this stalemate would be appreciated as I don't wish for the hospital to waste money on wiring if it is not necessary however in saying this I don't wish to risk patients' lives either. John Porter Team Leader Electrical/Mechanical Building & Engineering Launceston General Hospital Ph: 03 6348 7433 Fx: 03 6348 7430 Email: [email protected] CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER The information in this transmission may be confidential and/or protected by legal professional privilege, and is intended only for the person or persons to whom it is addressed. If you are not such a person, you are warned that any disclosure, copying or dissemination of the information is unauthorised. If you have received the transmission in error, please immediately contact this office by telephone, fax or email, to inform us of the error and to enable arrangements to be made for the destruction of the transmission, or its return at our cost. No liability is accepted for any unauthorised use of the information contained in this transmission. If the transmission contains advice, the advice is based on instructions in relation to, and is provided to the addressee in connection with, the matter mentioned above. Responsibility is not accepted for reliance upon it by any other person or for any other purpose.
