A medical establishment is often one of the most frantic places you could ever be found in. For this reason, few medical professionals actually have the time to give much thought to the state of their medical equipment. We at Glenmed understand the craziness of the industry, and offer a guideline to maintaining medical equipment below:
Preventative Maintenance
Preventative maintenance is all about the steps you can take to prevent damage or issues with your vital medical equipment:
Proper Training
The first step to take in maintaining your medical equipment is to ensure that your staff are well-trained on the operation of your establishment’s medical equipment. Medical equipment training will ensure that whoever operates the devices knows exactly how to do so, as well as what to look out for should the device begin to malfunction.
Surge Protection
With the South African electrical grid up and down as it has been for years, you never know when the power might suddenly vanish. Even worse, lightning striking in the vicinity of your medical practice could damage (if not destroy) your valuable medical equipment. By installing surge protectors where your medical equipment is plugged in, you’re performing preventative maintenance that could save you thousands of Rands in the long run.
Ongoing Maintenance
Ongoing maintenance is the type of medical equipment maintenance work you perform on a weekly or monthly basis:
Consumables
If your medical equipment utilises consumable products such as disposable covers or pads, a good idea would be to set up a system of checking these on a weekly or monthly basis. While a lack of these consumable products won’t prevent your medical equipment from actually operating, you won’t be able to service clients if these run out.
Cleaning
This one might be an obvious step in maintaining your medical equipment, but you’d be surprised as to how seldom some medical devices are actually cleaned! In medical settings, where all sorts of germs and bacteria are rife, cleaning your medical equipment is about as important as having the equipment there in the first place. Ensure your medical equipment is cleaned regularly, and remember to dust off any air vents your device might feature to prevent overheating and eventual malfunction.
Efficacy testing
Once a week, run diagnostics test on your medical equipment. This is where any issues will be pinpointed, and the overall effectiveness of your medical equipment can be ascertained. If your medical equipment is unable to self-diagnose technical issues, get in touch with your service provider and ask them about setting up a regular maintenance arrangement.
System Upgrades
As a final step in maintaining medical equipment, keep in touch with your medical equipment supplier so that they are able to inform you of any device software or firmware upgrades necessary. In this digital age we live in, keeping your devices operating system up to date is vital for its continued efficacy.
For more advice on maintaining medical equipment in KwaZulu-Natal, please connect with Glenmed right here! We look forward to hearing from you.