EBME Forums Forums Management Professional Issues Nursing Issues Suction regulators

Has anyone out there got any information regarding suction regulators being "in line" from the schraider valve to the suction bottle, rather than the suction bottle being connected directly to the schraider valve?

Ron,
Im a bit confused.
Why would you connect a suction bottle directly to a shrader valve.
Usually you would have a shrader valve / or terminal outlet then a suction / vacuum controller,
Which would be attached to a intermediary bottle (Abbott Receptal, Vacsax) then connect to the patient drain.

This is why I'm after some facts. The set up does not have a regulator/filter and sometimes arguing with no facts in your hands is pointless.

Ron, your querey does seem strange unless you present a few more relevant facts as to what your concern actually is. One very obvious reason for the really basic type of suction unit to be on the wall where the schrader valve is, is because the wall provides a natural reference for the suction jar. In the case of the type using a ball-float mechanism, it has to be up-right otherwise the contents may not be blocked from being sucked back down the pipeline by the valve when the jar becomes too full. If you have an in-line suction unit (which personally I have not come across) then one naturally assumes that it has been constructed to lie or stand-alone or be supported in some way or the blocking mechanism is of a different type not requiring vertical orientation. If this is not the nature of your concern, would you care to elaborate further?

Reasoning behind origional request:-
I have witnessed the set up that I described on a ward set up. Apparantly it has been that way for years. I need some legislation to prove that a regulator (complete with filter )is needed. Can anyone help?

If the apparatus does not have a regulator and does not have a filter, I presume you may be on the lookout for purchasing a regulator/filter combination to put in line with the jar, yes? (Personally I cannot help you here). But if you are trying to reason with the department that a regulator and filter are necessary and should be provided, then surely they would appreciate ( ih these modern times) that from the filter point alone, it is critical that infectious debris does not have any chance at all of getting into the pipeline sytsem even though they may, in all the years of use, never have had an accident so far. From a point of infection control alone a filter is essential. As far as legislation is concerned, I would be surprised if there is anything to say that a regualtor complete with filter is required, but may well be stated that an in-line filter(and regulator?) is mandatory in a ward suction apparatus.

Ron

Speak to Doug McIvor at MHRA, he will tell you what is allowed and what is not.

I cannot believe that in this day and age, there is a hospital in uk that is carrying out a procedure in the manner that is being suggested.
Just from the points of view that if, a patient is being subjected to a suction from a compressor that is un regulated, un checked in terms of over flow into the mgps.
Is there an onsite EBME service, estates dept.

absoloutely amazing - next you'll be asking how to fit bubble tubing to the tops of oxygen cylinders.

I would just like to thank all members who post sarcastic comments. I am just asking if anyone out there has a fact to hand, as opposed to best practice. I and many others know what best practice is, but I just want to back this up.
Thank you