EBME Forums Forums Management Medical Equipment Management T34 Alternatives

Hi,

We currently use T34 through out our trust. We are having issues with their suppliers in Ireland. We have to wait over 3 months to get a pump investigated or repaired under warranty. When we send back faulty main boards that are brand new etc. we never get them back. Orders are very slow too and often require chasing up! You also need refresher training every 2 years at a cost of 2k!

We are looking for tried and tested alternative drivers. Any advice or recommendations?

Cheers!

One question:- does the same poorly performing supplier carry out the training?

Why not deal directly with the manufacturer?

Meanwhile, this is the second post recently that has mentioned "refresher training". I'm guessing this could be the latest money-making tactic by the "companies that care" (or is it yet another OTT interpretation of an EU regulation).

Not sure about "tried and tested" (apart form the MS-16A, of course), but other possibilities are available; the Micrel for example.

I seem to recall that ZiMed was taken over by Cardinal Health (...CareFusion); I'm not sure what became of the Alaris AD.

See this ancient document.

Unfortunately we have to deal with them as they are the Ireland supplier so we are stuck with them. We have tried to deal with CME direst but they constantly refer us back!

The refresher training is a joke, its the exact same training received 2 years previously! I believe a lot of companies are doing this but some are providing this FOC or at a reduced price since full training was already conducted!

I don't like the look of the Micrel, not confident in the Velcro strapping to hold the syringe. We would need a device that has alarms! Unfortunately T34 only seem to be the only one out there!

Sounds a bit like how things were in a certain Desert Kingdom back in the old days; viz, "you have to go through the agent".

Luckily, some of the more enterprising groups were able to come up with ways of getting around that sort of thing.

Myself, I like the T34 - I reckon it's a good design - but it sounds like you need to get friendly with an independant service provider (company) in the UK.

In regards to the 2k training, discovered this more by accident than design, but some companies you become an accredited engineer in their product. Train the trainer is impossible as they will only supply parts to that engineer.

The T34 isn't one of those devices, therefore send a fraction of the people you were going to send as train the trainer. Then later send a new bunch in two years time and they can update those that went on the initial training.

We have some Micrel devices and they are reasonable, the strap is quiet hard wearing and lasts well, there are alarms too, however the UK agent also refuses to supply spare parts unless you have completed the training and that includes the strap. One screw which is easy to replace.

... yet another one for the Glossary of Terms.

... again, can you not deal directly with the manufacturer?

(or find an independent service company to do it on your behalf)?

It comes with either a dongle or a card who's main purpose is to just unlock service mode!

... and easily shared, then.

Let's be honest, kit like this isn't exactly at the cutting edge of technology. Personally, I can't see the need for any technical training on the T34, just as long as you've got a half-decent manual (and maybe not even that).