Digitalisation is progressing rapidly and has long since reached all areas of life, be it in industry, the public sector or in the private realm. In hospitals, too, significant investment has been made in new, advanced technology and installations. This is necessary as the pressure on costs continues to rise, and hospitals must remain competitive.
Digitalisation also entails employing changes to infrastructure and systems. To ensure a hospital is equipped with modern technology it is simply not enough to procure new technology.
Read in this article, why modernising existing power supply is necessary too to meet today's requirements.
Three reasons for modernising the power supply of hospitals
A safe and reliable power supply is the backbone of every hospital. Rooms employed for medical purposes must meet specific requirements and regulations in terms of availability. For this reason, the fail-safe unearthed power distribution system (medical IT power) is used for operating theatres, intensive care units, emergency rooms and other areas. The basis for this is DIN VDE 0100-710 and HD 60364-7-710.
A system installed in 2005 and still used in many hospitals is no longer suitable for ensuring fail-safe operation today and also in the future. Medical electrical devices procured in recent years impact the power supply system and cause effects that did not even exist in 2005. Correspondingly, old power-supply technology is "blind" to these new effects. Direct currents, high-frequency harmonics and digital peak currents have far-reaching consequences for the reliability and safety of hospitals power supply system. (Further information on this topic can be found here.)
But that is only part of the problem.
Therefore, the power supply in hospitals, specifically in critical areas and medical locations, should be upgraded to the latest state-of-the-art infrastructure.
There are three reasons for this:
- Only advanced insulation monitoring, automatic fault location, and transfer switching devices in medical IT systems can detect all occurring faults - including DC faults, high-frequency harmonics and current peaks - reliably and ensure protection from power failures.
- Replacement parts are no longer available for many older, obsolete devices. They can therefore no longer be repaired.
- And finally many hospital technicians currently monitor and check an ever-increasing number of electrical and electronic devices manually. Often, technicians have limited knowledge of older devices. In the event of a fault and potential loss of power, the fault elimination may take much longer, with theatre or ward shutdown and corresponding financial consequences for the hospital.
Requirements for safe and reliable operation
In addition to the purely technical necessities for modernising the power supply, there are other requirements.
- Due to the increased cost pressure in hospitals, downtimes during modernisation measures should be kept as short as possible.
- At the same time, new technology should be less susceptible to faults than devices of previous generations.
- After all, new devices should be so easy to operate that lengthy familiarisation is unnecessary, even if readjustments are necessary later on.
How can these requirements be satisfied, and the interests of hospital operators, technicians and medical staff be served?
Safe and reliable power supply with the automatic transfer switching device ATICS®
Solutions that meet all requirements
As a globally active family-owned company Bender has experience in developing solutions that meet the specifications of the applicable standards for power distribution systems in critical medical locations and also the requirements listed above. This applies to the equipment installed in the control cabinet, but even more so to the alarm indicator and operator units installed in operating theatres and other medical locations. These units show the status of the power supply, signal alarms in the event of a fault and are operated not only by technical staff but also by medical personnel. Therefore, they should be user-friendly and easy to operate.
Several years ago, the CP9xx series of touchscreen theatre panels were an important step towards an electrically safe future. This device has become the control and information centre in numerous hospitals worldwide in operating theatres, intensive care units, recovery rooms and other areas, ensuring the reliability of power supplies and a clear infrastructure overview.
New generation of electrical safety devices
The next generation of alarm indicator and operator units are available with the touch control panel CP305. It is intended especially for use in intensive care units and emergency rooms but also in other medical locations, and it can be installed as a retrofit device where older alarm indicator and operator units are still being used (e.g. MK2430).
Touch Control Panel CP305
In addition to the use of advanced technology, the top requirement is to ensure the device provides easy and user-friendly operation. When most people own a smartphone and are used to intuitive user interfaces, the technical devices in a hospital should be just as easy to operate. This means users should be able to understand without lengthy instructions how to operate a device and what to do in the event of a device signalling an alarm. With a touch-sensitive 5" display and a clear menu structure the CP305 provides ease of operation.
The display shows a large colour bar with a traffic-light colour code. This ensures that the status of the power supply can be identified at a glance. Should a fault in the power supply occur, it is signalled both as an audio and a visual alarm. In addition, the display now shows error messages in text form and not as cryptic codes so that medical personnel can identify and eliminate the sources of a fault more easily and quickly and can do so without calling a technician.
Additional functions for hospital operation
Upon customer request, two functions can be integrated that considerably improve work for medical personnel and support the patients' recovery. The CP305 has a timer that is easy to program. This means that solutions with additional devices are no longer necessary. A further important feature, especially for intensive care units, is the "quiet room" function. It prevents patients from being disturbed by a possible alarm signal. This is especially important for patients whose recovery should not be disturbed by unnecessary noise or alarm messages.
Quick mounting, easy installation
As already described, downtimes in medical locations should be avoided or at least kept to a minimum. This applies especially to the installation of new technology or retrofit measures. Time-consuming retrofits are very costly for hospitals because they lead to a loss of revenue. A quick installation of new technology with only a brief interruption of medical operations is therefore in the interest of hospital operators. The CP305 meets this requirement as it is a direct form, fit and function to the predecessor models of the Bender MK class. The device can be installed in the same flush-mounting box and only a plug needs to be exchanged. Therefore, replacing the device within a very short time. The device can be set up and adjusted via a mobile phone app or a computer.
Conclusion
When new technology is employed in hospitals, upgrading the power supply is crucial. This is vital to ensure failures, false alarms or other unwanted scenarios in operating theatres and other medical locations are avoided. The CP305 by Bender is a new alarm indicator and operator unit for the intensive care unit, emergency rooms, and other medical locations that raises electrical safety in hospitals to a new level. Now medical teams have clear information and instructions in the event of an electrical fault. They no longer need to wait until a technician arrives to eliminates faults. This helps medical teams do not get distracted in critical situations. The new technology results in issues being resolved quickly and shorter downtimes. This is a clear advantage for operators, technicians and medical staff alike. And the hospital also benefits from this. Ensuring medical areas remain electrically safe and operational.
Do you have questions about modernising the power supply in your hospital? Your Bender experts will be happy to help you.
