EBME Forums Forums Management Recruitment Independent Incident Assessor for Failed Equipt

Hi,
Anybody interested to be a paid independent assessor for a failed IABP that caused patient injury? The venue: Singapore.

PM me if you are interested. Let me know your total cost and the amount of time needed for conducting the assessment and putting up a technical report.

Let me know your credential and experience as well.

Regarding a proposal ... how long is a piece of string? That is, who knows how long the investigator may be required to remain in Singapore?

I imagine the incident you refer to is sub judice, but once everything has been settled, I'm sure than many of us here would be interested in hearing about the details.

If only it had involved a Roberts Pump. Then I would have been your man!

This investigation is at its preliminary stage and is strictly internal. As with any court hearing, there is a need for a 2nd or 3rd opinion.

Two places best avoided:-

1) Hospitals
2) Courts of Law

... both have been known to result in unforeseen (and unwelcome) outcomes!

Roger
I'm assuming that the problem was of a technical nature rather than a user error. This needs to be ascertained before deciding on the experience of your independant assessor.

Hello Roger,

Are you looking for a balloon pump specialist? or would an experienced engineer suffice?

Hi Andy & John,
This is technical in nature. We need a technical guy to assess the condition of the problem. The problem: battery was unable to sustain power for a prolonged period during transportation. Preliminary assessment by us has narrowed down to either the battery or the charger within the unit. It is highly likely to be the battery. Inhouse biomed has provided the preliminary findings but in this case a second or a third opinion is seek.

1) How long a period does the manufacturer claim the machine can run off battery power? Plus or minus (probably the later) a margin for error?

2) Did the battery fail drastically short of expectations?

3) Was the battery fully charged before hand?

4) Was it checked before the deployment? What do the records show?

5) How has it performed since (has battery performance been analysed)?

6) Did this incident occur in an ambulance? Was no power available within the vehicle?

It sounds to me like someone got either got their calculations wrong, or took a risk (or both) and now people are casting around for something (or someone) to blame!

What if the investigation concludes there is (was) nothing wrong with the kit? Who (or what) are they going to blame then?

You haven't mentioned the patient's outcome. Are we to assume the worst case?

Any third party investigator is likely to end up embroiled in internal politics at the hospital - and possibly beyond (aka "the blame game"). No doubt people will require the report to be written (slanted) in a particular way. There's no need to travel to Singapore. In fact it's best avoided, by the sound of things!

I would have thought that the money allocated for flying in investigators could be put to better use purchasing some decent batteries, running a few tests, and re-engineering the systems involved (if need be) to ensure that the hospital is not embarrassed again in the future!

Hi Geoff,

We are taking a worst scenario. There are some sensitivities which would not be appropriate to discuss in this forum. Battery power is supposed to last at least 2 hours but in this case it didn't. The transportation is from hospital to hospital in an ambulance.

Well, failure can occur in almost anytime and anywhere. What I see is how we are prepared for the worst and have a protocol or process to take care of the situation.

We become wiser each time.

Just a thought Roger, is the Balloon Pump suitable for transport on a vehicle? Although the machine has a battery it may not be designed for the relaively rough handling that a trip in an ambulance entails. It may be only be suitable for transfer between wards where it is wheeled along smooth corridors.