EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Out of Hours Magic Kingdom Biomed Expats

Meanwhile, I wonder if Nick still lurks. That is, keeps an eye on what's going on here on the forum, but no longer intervenes.

On the other hand, maybe he simply uses a noms de plume!

Your the main man Huw, Neil loves working with Andy.....together they are setting the standards? He calls him DOCTORA

Umish; Am I detecting pangs of jealousy from your recent posts, as to the standards I know quite a lot of engineers, technicians who wish that some form of standards had been in place a long time ago. The standards that we are producing now, and remember this is not just biomedical, this is med gas, electrical, fire & safety, building codes etc. they may not be perfect at the first time of asking, but at least it is something to work with.
As for "Andy" I do not choose the committee members that I work with, I will tell you though that I was the only non-Saudi in the team.

What are the standards trying to invent?

Not inventing anything, adapting systems from other countries i.e. UK, US, Australia. At present there is no standard electrical outlet/voltage, medical gas pipeline. If you have been here you would have noticed that each healthcare facility conforms to the directive of the contractor and not a universal code and this has to change.

Depends which hospital you work in?

Some Built and Managed By British,

Some Built and Managed By Americans,

In the good old day's when money was plentiful, every country got a share of the pie.

I remember one turnkey project had a "cost plus " contract.....was anyone there during that time...? Geoff?

Each hospital built to their own standard, now all new builds will be subject to CBAHI codes and regulations, current hospitals will be given a 'grace' period to bring their facilities up to standard if it is proven that they are below standard. Should have been done years ago.

Good luck to you, then.

@Umish - Cost plus 8% (and what's wrong with that?).

Also last man standing, whilst we sort out the implementation process, everything looks easy on paper when you try to implement all the problems start to show.

I've taken a look at the CBAHI website (not to mention YouTube ... interesting choice of music!) and I can see the value in what y'all are trying to achieve. I must say, though, that I can't help wondering why you (they) don't just simply adopt JCAHO, NFPA et al and be done with it.

And, I'm wondering also if MoH have "come on board" (with their hundreds of hospitals, and thousands of clinics - many of which were, back in my day at least, located in residential "villas")!

Don't forget that many of us were around when those "turnkey" hospitals were springing up all across the Kingdom. And be assured that some of us were also quite vocal at the time regarding the need for sensible standardisation (only for it to fall upon deaf ears, of course ... and sometimes even threats about what might happen if we didn't, er ... shut up)! If you like, I could still name the projects, the contractors, and the (mostly corrupt) consulting engineers (so-called).

In one place where I was the biomed (and, by the way, the only Brit in town), we had quite a nice hospital, built by Koreans but following British practice when it came to things like PMG and power outlets. However ... one of the mudeers had part of the outside OPD ("screening clinic") converted into a dental lab. Fair enough, but (rather than asking us - the O&M contractor - to help) he brought in a gang of Egyptian muhandis from a well-known supplier of dental equipment in Riyadh.

And (as you may imagine) all did not turn out well. Not only did they fail to provide manuals or any other "non essential" items like that, but they also fitted the place out with "Schuko" power outlets. Some of the kit was 110 volts, complete with the dreaded "transformer" ... I expect you get the picture. And don't even ask about commissioning (eh? what's that? No need, inshallah).

Needless to say, when I finally got in there, I wasn't best pleased. In fact, it all ended in tears when (following a bit of a scene with the "Doctor" concerned) I refused to take responsibility for maintaining the stuff. And ... as you may well imagine, I didn't last too long there after that!

Oh yes, the joys of biomeding in Saudi Arabia!