Safety Precautions - Gaymar Medi-Therm III Manuel D'utilisation

Medi-Therm III
®

1.0 Safety Precautions

Read and understand this operating manual and
all precautions listed below prior to using the
Medi-Therm III Hyper/Hypothermia Machine.
Do not use the Medi-Therm III machine in
the presence of flammable anesthetics.
Risk of explosion can result.
• If the patient's temperature is not responding or
does not reach the prescribed temperature in the
prescribed time or deviates from the prescribed
temperature range, notify the attending physician
promptly. Failure to notify the physician
promptly may result in serious injury or
death.
• Power interruption will cause the Medi-Therm III
machine to go into a standby mode, resulting in
no therapy to the patient. Follow instructions for
desired mode to resume operation. Failure to
resume therapy could result in serious injury
or death.
• When performing the PROBE CHECK (p. 17,
10.1.2, item 4), use a protective sheath on the
probe. Failure to use a sheath could result in
cross-contamination.
• When using the rate controlled Auto Moderate
or Auto Gradual modes for warming; switching
to other modes, e.g. Auto Rapid or Manual, or
changing the temperature set point during the
therapy will cause the Medi-Therm to reset the
therapy. Altering the Mode or Temperature
set point may impact the overall duration
of the therapy.
• A physician's order is required for use of
equipment. Check the integrity of the skin
according to department protocol when
regulating temperature with external devices.
Frequency of assesment and documentation will
vary depending upon the individual response of
the patient.
Failure to monitor patient may result
in skin damage or inappropriate patient
temperature.
• Avoid placing additional heat sources between the
patient and blanket/body wrap. Skin damage
may result.
• Prevent excessive and/or prolonged tissue
pressure and shearing forces, especially over
boney prominences. Skin damage may result.
(continued next column)
Safety Precautions
• Keep the area between the patient and the
blanket/body wrap dry. Excessive moisture
may result in skin damage.
• Do not tip machine over without first draining
the water out and unplugging the power cord.
Damage to the machine or electrical shock
can result.
• Repairs should be performed by qualified
personnel such as certified biomedical electronics
technicians or certified clinical engineers familiar
with repair practices for servicing medical
devices, and in accordance with the Medi-Therm
III Service Manual. Do not attempt repairs to
Gaymar medical equipment unless you possess
these skills. Damage to the machine or
malfunction may otherwise result.
• All wire-lead, patient-connected transducer
assemblies are subject to reading error, local
heating, and possible damage from high-intensity
sources of RF energy. Inadequately grounded
electrosurgical equipment represents one such
source, since capacitively-coupled currents may
seek alternate paths to ground through probe
cables and associated instruments. Patient
burns may result.
If possible, remove the probe from patient contact
before activating the surgical unit or other RF
source. If probes must be used simultaneously
with electrosurgical apparatus, hazards can be
reduced by selecting a temperature monitoring
point which is remote from the expected RF
current path to the ground return pad.
CAUTION
• Fill with distilled water only. Failure to use
distilled water may result in poor machine
performance. Do not use alcohol. Alcohol
may accelerate blanket/body wrap deterioration.
Do not operate without water, since damage to
internal components may result. Do not overfill.
Overfilling may result in overflow because the
water in the blanket/body wrap drains back into
the machine when the machine is turned off.
• Place a dry absorbent sheet between the patient
and the blanket when using the plastic-like side of
any blanket. Moisture may accumulate which
may result in skin damage.
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