In the September edition of Health Estate Journal, you can find important information on how to protect patients, staff and medical equipment in operating theatres, on pages 69-72. Our CEO Timo Ohtonen and Development Manager Petri Pelkonen write in their article about insulation monitoring.
Any electrical malfunctions in an operating room could be fatal. Insulation monitoring is the best
way to guarantee electrical safety in an operating room and in other Group II medical facilities.
Operating rooms are so-called group II medical facilities where the interfaces of electrically operated medical devices are used for near-heart functions. Faulty electrical equipment can be life-threatening for the patient and staff. Even the slightest equipment failure and leakage current can lead to burns, fire and even severe electric shock. Detecting electrical problems at an early stage is an extremely important issue in the operating room.
Medical equipment failures
A commonly used residual-current device reacts too late; the damage will already have
happened. This causes real danger to the patient and personnel. In addition to that, connected
devices are without electricity and the operation must be suspended. That is why insulation-
level monitoring has been mandatory since 1983 in all operating rooms in Finland. It is a matter of safety, efficiency and cost savings.
At the beginning of the 1980s, PPO-Elektroniikka Oy developed an MEV insulation level monitoring system for this monitoring task. The first analogue equipment was completed in 1981 and the second-generation digital equipment in 1983. In the same year, the insulation level monitoring system became mandatory in Finland.
The MEV system has been protecting Finnish operating rooms since that time. We have delivered over
30 000 systems and our market share is nearly 100 %. In 2019, we launched our export with the fifth generation MEV-8. In October 2020, we already have distributors in 16 countries.
Health Estate Journal is the official publication for the members of IHEEM (the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management). Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management is the UK’s largest specialist Institute for the Healthcare Estates sector. It is also widely known internationally. First published in 1943 Health Estate Journal has been providing members with comprehensive information on the latest developments within healthcare engineering, estates administration, and facilities management, for over 70 years.
Read our article:
Insulation monitoring brings safety and cost-savings
Health Estate Journal 9 2020
