Electrical safety in hospitals according to HTM2007

Healthcare and personal social services premises are totally dependent upon electrical power supplies, not only to maintain a safer an more comfortable environment for patients and staff, but also to give greater scope for treatment using sophisticated medical equipment at all levels of clinical and surgical care.

Interruptions in electrical power supplies to equipment can seriously disrupt the delivery of healthcare, with serious consequences for patient well-being. Healthcare and social services premises must therefore ensure that their electrical installation provides maximum reliability and integrity of supplies. Every effort must be made to reduce the probability of equipment failure due to loss of power from the Public electricity supply company and from internal emergency power sources.

Concerning patient safety, the HTM2007 have divided medical locations into three different groups: 0, 1 and 2. The most critical of which is Group 2 covering Operating Rooms, Cardiac areas and intensive care units (ICU). It is these Group 2 locations that require isolated power supplies.

Your benefits with IPS:

• IPS provides continuity of electrical supply to "life-supporting" equipment. Faulty equipment (short to earth) will not trip a breaker or blow a fuse. Instead, an alarm is raised to the clinical user informing them of supply status.
• Isolated Power removes the risk of earth leakage shock. If a patient is unconscious or anaesthetised then they cannot inform clinical staff that a shock is being received. Even very small currents in the chest area can cause ventricular fibrillation.
• IPS provides continual monitoring of medical equipment (between specified testing periods), even checking multiple combinations of equipment.

Electrical safety in hospitals according to NEN 3134

Healthcare and personal social services premises are totally dependent upon electrical power supplies, not only to maintain a safer an more comfortable environment for patients and staff, but also to give greater scope for treatment using sophisticated medical equipment at all levels of clinical and surgical care.

Interruptions in electrical power supplies to equipment can seriously disrupt the delivery of healthcare, with serious consequences for patient well-being. Healthcare and social services premises must therefore ensure that their electrical installation provides maximum reliability and integrity of supplies. Every effort must be made to reduce the probability of equipment failure due to loss of power from the Public electricity supply company and from internal emergency power sources.

Concerning patient safety, the NEN 3134 have divided medical locations into three different groups: S0, S1, S2, S3. The most critical of which is S3 covering Operating Rooms, Cardiac areas and intensive care units (ICU). It is these S3 locations that require isolated power supplies.

Your benefits with IPS:

• IPS provides continuity of electrical supply to "life-supporting" equipment. Faulty equipment (short to earth) will not trip a breaker or blow a fuse. Instead, an alarm is raised to the clinical user informing them of supply status.
• Isolated Power removes the risk of earth leakage shock. If a patient is unconscious or anaesthetised then they cannot inform clinical staff that a shock is being received. Even very small currents (approximately 25mA) in the chest area can cause ventricular fibrillation.
• IPS provides continual monitoring of medical equipment (between specified testing periods), even checking multiple combinations of equipment.

Electrical safety in hospitals according to NFPA 99/CSA

ORs, ICUs and other critical care areas qualify as electrically hazardous environments. The situation has worsened over the years because of the increasing presence of electrical diagnostic and treatment equipment. Isolated Power provides an extra layer of protection for the patient in contact with saline-soaked sponges, anesthetic fittings and the exposed end of electrodes or catheters grounded either intentionally or by accident.
Isolated Power also protects the patient and staff against electrical shock due to defective patient-care-related electrical appliances. The Line Isolation Monitor (LIM) continuously monitors the Isolated Power System and immediately detects line-to-ground faults. BENDER offers more than 60 years of experience with ELECTRICAL SAFETY and the technology associated with "The Management of Line-to-Ground Faults" is power distribution systems. Active participation in committees of International and National Standards organizations has helped us develop ELECTRICAL SAFETY products that are in tune with the needs of the healthcare market.

Homepage: www.isotrolsystems.com

In medical locations it is necessary to ensure the safety of patients likely to be subjected to the application of medical electrical equipment. For every activity and function in a medical location, the particular requirements for safety have to be considered. Safety can be achieved by ensuring the safety of the installation and the safe operation and maintenance of medical electrical equipment connected to it. The use of medical electrical equipment on patients undergoing intensive care (of critical importance) has called for enhanced reliability and safety of electrical installations in hospitals so as to improve the safety and continuity of supplies which is met by application of this standard. Variations of the standard to further enhance safety and reliability are acceptable.

The particular requirements of this part of IEC 60364 apply to electrical installations in medical locations so as to ensure safety of patients and medical staff. These requirements, in the main, refer to hospitals, private clinics, medical and dental practices, health care centres and dedicated medical rooms in the work place.