Hospital Negligence: Medical Equipment Failures
While most of us assume that any harm we may suffer in a hospital will be caused by direct human error or medical malpractice, the fact is that we can suffer serious injuries or even death if even one critical piece of medical equipment fails.
NEW YORK, NY, September 07, 2012
Concerned hospital administrators are fully aware of this and create contingency plans for minimizing patient injuries when such events occur.The following list references some of the equipment failures that might one day seriously jeopardize your health while obtaining care in a New York City hospital.
Common Medical Equipment Failures
- Defibrillators. Stated simply, "A defibrillator is an electrical device that provides a shock to the heart when there is a life-threatening arrhythmia present." Obviously, when one of these devices stops working properly, a patient can suffer permanent injuries or even death. When this occurs, physicians or other medical staff on hand will usually need to resume CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and provide ACLS (advanced cardiovascular life support) measures until a fully functional defibrillator can be obtained and put to use;
- (Stationary) Monitor. Fortunately, when one of these fails, a savvy healthcare tech or other medical staff member can often quickly obtain a transport monitor and connect it to the patient -- or locate a defibrillator and connect its monitor portion to the patient until a more appropriate monitor can be found and employed;
- Anesthesia Unit. When one of these fails or there's an electrical failure, a qualified medical staff member must "hand-bag" the patient until a proper anesthesia unit can be located and put to use. If this same type of failure only involves the failure of a gas wall outlet, the patient should be connected to a cart's "E-tank;"
- Ventilator. Hospital or medical staff must hand-ventilate the patient in jeopardy until another functional ventilator can be located and put to use;
- Dialysis Machine. When one of these units stops working, the blood line must be removed from the venous line clamp. Medical staff must then use a hand-crank blood-pump to return the patient's blood to his or her body until a functional unit can be located;
- Heart-Lung Machine. If there's been an electrical failure, a hand crank must be used until power is restored. If the machine itself is malfunctioning, the tubing must be removed from the faulty machine and placed in a substitute device that's fully functional.
Organization that Sets Key Standards for the Proper Care of Medical Equipment
As most American healthcare professionals are aware, The Joint Commission sets important standards for properly maintaining all medical equipment. This independent, non-profit organization "accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States . . . [Its] accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to meeting certain performance standards."
The Joint Commission periodically updates its Medical Equipment Management Plan so that all U. S. hospitals will have proper standards for properly testing and maintaining their equipment. Many healthcare facilities regularly consult the newest edition of AAMI's Medical Equipment Management Manual in an effort to fully comply with the Joint Commission's high standards.
Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff LLP
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Phone: 1-866-516-5887
http://www.medicalmalpractice.net/