Dear all,

I just want to know, based on the worldwide standard how long the lifespan of medical equipment can be used generally. This is just for me to prepare the condition appraisal for medical equipment that been used for long time in my hospital and recommend hospital to buy new medical equipment.

Depending on the type of equipment, anything between 5 to 10 years with an average of 7 years (if your lucky and the money is available).

Default to twenty years in the "real world", Mammad. As long as equipment is (or has been) properly maintained, that is. As I keep saying, what really matters is the condition of equipment, not how long it has been on the inventory (or, for that matter, sitting on the shelf, or in the cupboard). Properly conducted preventive maintenance remains the name of the game, my friend.

However, if you're trying to "make a case" for getting rid of a pile of junk, you might like to tell "them" that spare parts are no longer available much beyond ten years, or something like that. But, as I have indicated, why not just tell them it's a pile of junk?

Remember too that there may be many reasons why equipment should be withdrawn from service (uneconomic to continue repairs, clinically obsolete, and all the rest). Sometimes, even perfectly serviceable kit just has to be "binned" (regrettably).

Lastly, in some parts of the world, manufacturers (or their agents) have a legal obligation to support equipment (eg, by having spare parts available) for a certain period of time (often as little as seven years only). In my opinion this is a disgrace (which can be got around by thoughtful stocking of spare parts in-house)!

Have to agree with Kawasaki on this one, I deal in used kit from hospitals & 9 times out of 10 it is 7 years old but can vary between 5-10 years.

Mammad is in Malaysia, Lel, not Manchester! Despite what some folk seem to think (and notwithstanding its name), this forum reaches out beyond the confines of the British National Health Service!

Meanwhile, I know of a secret stash of used equipment (the whereabouts of which you are aware), where nothing much is less than twenty years old!

Aahh, yes, my comment was assuming UK based. yes Geoff, i do know of this pot of gold to which you refer

Good engineers never assume, Lel. And anyway, Mammad is talking about a hospital's inventory of older equipment ... hardly the sort of thing that's likely to end up in your Emporium, I would have thought, Mate.

you would have thought his location would have been the give away still....... easily missed

A wise old Dude (it may even have been me, come to think of it) once gave some good advice. It went something like, "when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging"!

Actually I just want to confirm with ur guys. Now in my company, we actually used ASHE act. In ASHE, it's mentioned that averagely the lifespan of medical equipment is 10 years. Is it true?