Health devices
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The recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) raises questions about the appropriate infection control measures to use when conducting maintenance procedures on medical devices that may have been exposed to the SARS virus--that is, devices that have been used on, or located in the same room as, a patient with (or suspected to have) SARS. Although there is considerable information and guidance available on many aspects of SARS, very little exists on this particular topic. What's more, we have found significant differences in the perspectives and recommendations of some of the experts on the subject. ⋯ To derive our recommendations, we reviewed the material posted on the Web sites of the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), along with other information sources; we also discussed issues related to equipment use and servicing with experts outside ECRI.
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Patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) sometimes require mechanical ventilation. This raises safety concerns about the SARS virus being carried by droplets that exit from the exhalation limb of the ventilator. ECRI recommends that breathing-circuit filters be incorporated in the exhalation limb of any ventilator used on a patient with SARS. In this article, we review the issues behind our recommendations and describe steps hospitals can take to prevent any adverse effects on ventilation.
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Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, will automatically analyze a patient's ECG and, if needed, deliver a defibrillating shock to the heart. We sometimes refer to these devices as AED-only devices or stand-alone AEDs. The basic function of AEDs is similar to that of defibrillator/monitors, but AEDs lack their advanced capabilities and generally don't allow manual defibrillation. ⋯ In this Evaluation, we present our findings for a newly evaluated model, the Zoll AED Plus. We also summarize our findings for the previously evaluated model that is still on the market and describe other AEDs that are also available but that we haven't evaluated. We rate the models collectively for first-responder use and public access defibrillation (PAD) applications.