The Annual American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) show kicked off the evening of Sunday, August 8th in Nashville, Tennessee with a high-spirited Welcome Reception. Everyone in attendance was very excited to be back at the show and spend time with their colleagues in person. That carried over into the remaining days with excellent attendance at the expo and sessions. The ASHE Conference was a great success for us at Pattons Medical as we were able to connect with current customers as well as see and speak with hospital directors that have heard of us and never really explored who we are. In addition to seeing facility directors, we were also able to see engineers we know from around the country and meet with contractors for future projects.
At the Pattons Medical booth, we showcased our new HEPA filters integrated into vacuum systems and our System Health feature. Our vacuum system with the integrated HEPA filters debut was very timely as the need to protect healthcare workers, including the personnel that services the equipment, is of the utmost importance. Also, our System Health generated lots of interest as again, now more than ever, keeping your medical gas equipment performing is vital. Below is more information on these components and features for those unable to attend.
Medical Vacuum HEPA Bacterial Filters - Integrated & Modules
Pattons Medical’s new and clean design for HEPA bacterial filters integrated into vacuum systems avoids having an additional manifold and minimizes floor space. The Pattons Medical HEPA filters are designed for infection control by removing microbes and contaminants, ensuring the safety facility’s maintenance team members.
Pattons Medical also offers a Medical Vacuum Bacterial Filter Module option. The Pattons Medical bacterial filter modules are designed with a smaller footprint and designed for ease of use and assembly, making it easier for hospitals to update their existing medical vacuum systems to NFPA 99:2018 Health Care Facilities Code.
For more information and to download specification sheets on our HEPA bacterial filters, visit https://www.pattonsmedical.com/medical-vacuum-pumps/hepa-filters
Pattons Medical System Health Feature
Pattons Medical offers a System Health standard feature for all of our air compressor and vacuum pump systems for medical and laboratories. Using the HMI that comes on all control panels, we give you the ability to constantly track information on the systems' performance and the ambient conditions. As a result, we can alert you of any issues before a system failure. Here are some key trends the System Health monitors to ensure your system runs healthy:
Ambient Temperature
Monitoring ambient temperature is important because, if the temperature is cold, there is the chance that the unit might not start. If the temperature is hot, grease can break down faster, causing premature failure of a major component. Our sensor has a range of 32°F-122°F. By monitoring the temperature, we can inform the customer of an environmental issue that can cause damage to the unit.
Current
System Health can monitor the current drawn by the machine to notice if a component is starting to fail. If bearings (in the motor or pump) fail, the motor draws more current than normal for some time before breaking down. By monitoring the current, we can inform the customer of a pump bearing failure before the actual failure. If caught early, maintenance of the bearings may save the component.
Dew Point
The standard dew point range is -10°C to 2°C. If the dew point gets to -3°C, the System Health icon will flash on the screen to notify the operator. It will also be documented in the History Log and can be seen in the Trending data. In case of an alert, the unit should be checked for a possible dryer service or dew point sensor malfunction/failure.
Carbon Monoxide
System Health can monitor Carbon Monoxide (CO) levels as per NFPA99. The maximum CO allowance is 10ppm. The System Health icon will flash on the screen when the CO level reaches 7ppm as it is an indicator that there could be an issue with the CO monitoring device or there is an actual CO source near the intake.
Pumps Running
System Health can track LAG pump activity. This allows you to see the history of how many pumps have been running and for how long. If the value increases, it might be a leak in the system or some other issue. System Health gives you trending data to help identify issues and also allows you to see how close you are coming to activating the LAG pump.
Pressure/Vacuum
System Health can give you a reference to the cycling time and variation on how the pumps are running and maintaining the pressure/vacuum. By combining this trend along with the pump running trend, we can provide the customer with an overall assessment of the system and how well it is operating.
For more information on our System Health feature, contact your local medical/laboratory gas consultant: https://www.pattonsmedical.com/sales-representative-search/
