Medi-Therm
®
III
17
Alerts / Troubleshooting / FAQ's
Most Medi-Therm III operating problems are minor and
can be corrected by the operator. The following are alerts
and troubleshooting details.
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, in accordance with the
Medi-Therm III
Service Manual
.
Do not
attempt repairs to the
Medi-Therm III machine unless you possess these
skills.
Damage to the machine, malfunction, or
electrical shock may otherwise result.
10.1 Alerts
The Medi-Therm III machine has both visual and audible
alert indicators to help you identify machine or operator
caused problems. An explanation of these signals and
their probable causes follow. Perform corrective action in
the sequence listed.
10.1.1 Check Water Flow
Circulation of water through the blanket/body wrap has
been restricted. Air bubbles in the blanket/body wrap
may remain stationary although water is flowing; a few
bubbles do not adversely affect operation of the blanket/
body wrap.
To locate and correct the source of low flow:
NOTE: When two gray hose sets are in use, the
CHECK WATER FLOW
alarm will only sound
if the flow through BOTH gray hose sets is
occluded. See p. 7, section 5.7 for instructions
on checking flow path when two gray hose
sets are in use.
1. Check that hoses are fully inserted and seated
into one
RETURN
(top) and one
SUPPLY
(bottom)
connector on the machine.
(See
Start-up Procedure
, p. 6.)
2. Check that all pinch clamps are fully open.
3. Check that hoses are not kinked or pinched
off. Make sure blanket/body wrap is not kinked
or creased. If a blanket/body wrap is used with
patient in sitting position, flow may be pinched off.
4. Confirm that water supply is at proper level.
5. Turn off machine. Close all pinch clamps.
Disconnect blanket/body wrap from connector
hose. Direct connector hoses into water fill
opening, start machine, and select
MANUAL
or
AUTO
mode. Open connector pinch clamps. If
there is still no flow, turn machine off and remove
from use.
10.1.2 Check Patient Probe
Indicates that the patient probe is sensing below 29°C
(84.2°F) or above 45°C (113°F), and is not a normal
patient temperature.
If
CHECK PATIENT PROBE
light comes on, therapy
will stop (in
AUTO
mode only), status lights will
go out, and no additional heating or cooling will
occur until the problem is corrected.
1.
CHECK PATIENT PROBE
audible alarm can be
silenced for five minutes while diagnosing
problem by pressing
SILENCE ALARM.
2.
CHECK PATIENT PROBE
alert may sound if
machine is placed in
MANUAL, AUTO,
or
MONITOR
mode before patient probe has been
inserted in patient, since probe will be sensing
room temperature. Place probe in patient and
wait for patient temperature to stabilize before
pressing
MANUAL, AUTO,
or
MONITOR
mode
button.
3. Check probe to make sure it has not
become dislodged from patient. Reinsert and
tape securely if required. Wait for patient
temperature to stabilize before pressing
AUTO
mode button.
4. Perform
PROBE CHECK:
a. Insert probe into protective sheath and
then into
PROBE CHECK WELL
on front
of machine base (fig. 11, p. 16).
When performing the
PROBE CHECK,
use a protective sheath on the probe.
Failure to use a sheath could
result in cross-contamination.
10.0 Alerts / Troubleshooting / FAQ's
