EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance SYRINGE DRIVERS

Some time ago there were discussions on the availibility of modern alternatives to the Graseby MS16A and MS26 syringe drivers. I recall there were some ongoing trials at the time. Has anybody come up with a suitable alternative?
Help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Graham,

Have a word with Cardinal Health they are bringing out an AD Ambulatory Syringe Driver the rep is going to bring one in for us to have a look at.

Cardinal Health's number is 01256 388284.

I'm looking at a picture of it at the moment and it looks very smart, but I've no idea of cost at the moment, but will obviously be in competition with Greasby.

We're looking at McKinley's offering at the moment, the T34. Seems OK for our usage, which is for short low volume infusions on the ICU rather than ambulatory use. For info see http://www.mckinleymed.co.uk/uk_products.shtml

We'll be trying the Cardinal Health version when it becomes available. I believe they'll both cost around the £1,000 mark.

I have seen the McKinley T34 and the Asena AD. My only quibble with the AD is that it has a rechargable battery and requires the user to place it in a docking station to ensure that the battery remains charged-up.

I believe that Cardinal Heath's number is: 0800 917 8776 (this one's free-phone!)

Thanks to you both, we already have lots of Cardinal infusion devices here, i'll give the rep a ring
Graham

Graham
We looked at various ambulatory syringe drivers for use within the hospital and in the community about 15 months ago.
We decided to go with the McKinley T34 for hospital use as a direct replacement for the Graseby MS26. This was based on its ease of use and programmability.
In the community, for specific patients, we have purchased a few Crono pumps from Applied Medical Technology (www.applied-medical.co.uk). These are ideal where you want a compact, simple to use device that will deliver a set volume of a set period of time. The only "downside" is that you have to use the dedicated syringes from AMT when using this device.
We are going to look at the Asena AD on Monday as a posssible alternative for some applications. I understand that it will be available for general use in December of this year, is that correct?

Is anyone out there using the Alaris Asena GH/GS and the Arcomed SP6000 syringe drivers? If so, how do they compare?

Cheers
Mark

We use the Asena range of syringe drivers. We have acually standardised on the Asena GH for adults and the Asena CC for paeds. The service we get from Cardinal is very good. The only problem I have with them is that they seem to release a lot of software revisions.

I am basing my view of their service as good when compared to Smiths Medical (Graseby) and Baxter Healthcare as I have no indepth experience of the service from other manufacturers.

I have seen the Arcomed syringe drivers (albeit quite a while ago), and I wasn't impressed by the device. Anyway, the users expressed a preference for the Asena, so we went with that.

If your Trust is thinking of buying one or the other, ask the manufacturers for reference sites, and try to find out other Trusts using the pumps. I have found that posting on open forums has limited success as people tend to shy away from expressing their (stronger) views in a public arena. I found that when I contacted Trusts directly, I was given a much better impression of what they thought of their infusion devices.

Please, feel free to send me a PM if you don't want to express your opinions on this forum.

Cheers
Mark

Here, I've had a play with the kit that I'm asking views on.
We're currently driving Whelmed/Ivac P1000 & P2000. Good kit, but our versions are mostly obsolete - there's only so much you can cannibalise.
Now then, re. the syringe drivers with the automatic plunger engagement mechanisms - you know what I mean.. Very s****y but, for general ward use, it's begging for our highly trained nusing staff to break. "Can't be bothered with waiting for that to engaged", I'll just help it along. Plus, expensive gravity induced repair.
These machines are probably very good until we let the nurses get their hands on them.

Decisions, decisions... Equipment designers must factor in the nurses or else everything will have to be metal-clad.

Cheers
Mark