EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion Incubators

We currently have around 16 Drager 8000 incubators on our Neonatal Unit. At present we have trialled the new Calleo and the Datex Ohmeda
Giraffe Incubator as we are looking at replacing some of the older models. Any feedback with reguards to advantages and disadvantages of one over the other would be very useful. Many thanks

Alan

Have you tried the NHS intranet MHRA medical devices pages which give access to recent evaluation reports in pdf form? nww.medical-devices.nhs.uk

Dawn

We have both the Caleo and Giraffe incubators. From a technical point of view there really isn't that much between them. The Caleo has more parts to change at the two-year service. As far as the costs they are much the same for servicing as both require kits for the PPM servicing.

The staff like both of them and don't really prefer one more than the other. One concern is that when the Caleo hood is raised there is only one catch to support the weight, which should be fine, as long as nobody rests his or her weight on it. Another point to consider is the Caleo allows the skin mode to be selected when both skin probes are connected. (The problem being it is only the yellow skin probe that controls the incubator temperature.)

Can I ask who will be carrying out the servicing? Is it the EBME dept or contractor/manufacturer? If it's the former, what training was given from the manufacturer? Its just that I have found it very difficult to source technical training from Drager.

Hi Rob, Medical Physics maintain everything in house. Drager run a two day technical training course on the Caleo at Hemel Hempstead. For the Giraffe technical training consists of a one-day course performed within hospital premises by Datex Ohmeda.

I had worked on both DRAGER as well as DATEX-OHMEDA incubators. The DRAGER incubators are easier to service. Moreover, the specialty of DRAGER incubators is: special technique of providing humidification in the chamber.

We have 11 8000's and 3 Caleo's. the reason we do not have any more Caleos is because the nursing staff do no t like them. If there is an 8000 incubator available, they will choose that instead of the Caleo. Servicing the Caleo is a lot more time consuming than the 8000. I can service 4 800's in a day whereas I can only service 2 Caleos......

We have 12 caleo incubators which now perform very well. We were in at the early stages of the introduction of this incubator and several upgrades have now been done. The only real problem remaining is the double wall supports which come detatched quite easily. Drager are introducing an outer double wall which will overcome this problem and also overcome the condensation issue between the walls. Ensure that this is done before purchasing as it will cost later on. Users report difficulty in cleaning but that is due to a our woefully inadequate cleaning area rather than an incubator problem.

Are people talking about the old or new Caleos? I think it was foolish of Draeger to relaunch the Caleo with the same name after it had such a bad start. So if people say the Caleo is bad do the mean the old one which was or the new one which may not be. I have not seen it so cannot comment.
Has anyone any idea where Draeger get their wierd names from? Cato, Julian, Evita, Caleo, Heraeus, Fabius, Innovian, Titus, Savina. What happened to the XXXXlog names? At least you could guess what they were.
Robert

Were they not Roman med techs !