In the earlier thread linked to by Huw, from the good old days of 2000-2002 (before my appearance on the forum, I might add – halcyon days indeed), there was talk of a “new standard”, using GMT (UST, whatever). What became of all that, I wonder?
Like most engineering technicians (as opposed to
clinical technologists, that is), I have no problem with any time format, and can’t really see why others still have trouble “working out” 24-hour bus time-tables (for example). But I doubt that things will be changing any time soon in a country still dithering about metric versus Imperial measurements!
Anyway, there was a post on this forum recently calling for “inventions”. Well, here’s my idea, and challenge to all you genius-level guys (and gals) out there. Surely, what we need is a little box (technically known, I believe, as a
gizmo), small enough to be fitted easily inside the vast majority of medical equipment (and bolted, glued, or tied-on to the rest) with the following features:-
1) Must be cheap
2) Act as an RFID transmitter
3) Include an accurate real-time clock (with a signal from the new “Rugby”, a central hospital clock, mobile phone network … or whatever, or all of the above)!
When necessary, the clock signal could be brought out to a display on the equipment front panel (etc.).
But, why stop there? We're really talking about time logging here, so why not record hours-on, battery hours run, and all the rest? Shall we include PM logging? A signal sent out when PM is due? A “fix-me” signal? Using the box for asset coding? When you stop and think about it, the possibilities are endless! In Modern Britain, where we have a regime that thinks that all ills can be put right by "technology”, surely we can do our bit? Come on (Richard?), let’s develop a proper spec, then get this thing done, once and for all!
You can call it Geoff’s Little Interactive Box (or GLIB, for short). All I want is 5% of the profits!
