6 Things to Ask your Preventive Maintenance Company About your Anesthesia Units

Is this the time of the year you need to plan for the maintenance and calibration of your anesthesia units? Or perhaps, you are starting to experience some issues in your operating room, and you need an expert to investigate this matter?

Here are the top 6 things you should ask your service company when performing the service:

1. Take the reading of your vaporizer concentration, which should be within the manufacturer’s specifications for animal safety. The report should be professional and kept on file. If values are out of specifications, the technician should recommend that your vaporizer be calibrated. A calibration cannot be performed on the site, as it takes 3 to 4 days to be done in a certified service centre.
2. Check, clean and test your evacuation system. Since there is a lot of animal hair moving around the clinic, this can decrease its effectiveness. The pull/push of the semi-active scavenger system should be reported and kept on file. If passive, we must ensure there is no resistance for your animal’s exhalation. If you have an active system, the flowmeter may need to be adjusted.
3. Change the seals of your anesthesia unit. The seals on your unit may not be torn or damage during the maintenance. However, a part of the preventive maintenance is to prevent certain failures for the coming year. Seals are more prone to cracking over time, as O2 and ISO create a dry environment. Handling quick couplings when seals are dry may cause important leaks. This is the reason they should be changed as a precaution.
4. Test the high and low pressure on your anesthesia unit for leaks and O2 loss. The technician can coach your staff and advise them on daily leak testing.
5. Provide you with a detailed maintenance report to use as a reference, but also for inspection records if necessary.
6. Explain what was done on your anesthesia unit, share observations. The technician should also give you advice and recommendations to extend the life of your unit based on the findings.