Manual KanMed Operatherm
Page
9
5 USING THE UNIT
5.1 PREPARATIONS.
The Heating Pad
Place the pad on the OR-table and make sure it is not folded.
Cover the Heating Pad with Gel Pads, preferably pre warmed and a sheet. (See also chapter 2)
Connecting the Heating Pad
Connect the pad to the control unit and make sure that the connector engages correctly. Secure the
connector with the safety clips.
Mains Connection
Connect the unit with the supplied mains cable or that supplied by your medical technical department
.
Placing the Control Unit
Place the Control Unit where it can easily be observed. It can be hung on it's handle. Note the handle
and the enclosure is electrically connected to earth.
5.2 START
Switch on the unit and observe the Self Test. Check that the beeper and ALARM indicators are
activated shortly (approx. 0.5 sec) and that all temperature LED's will be lit for approx. 2 sec. Then they
go out and the alarm indicators will instead be lit and the alarm shall sound. This indicates that
Operatherm has made a self test, a pad test and a test of the safety functions.
The heating of the pad will now start automatically at 37°C (default).
NOTE: If the unit do not react as described above it must not be used and shall be
examined by a technician
.
5.3 SELECTING
TEMPERATURE
In case you wish to select another temperature than 37°C then do as described in chapter 4.4.1
It will take about 8 – 15 minutes for the elements in the pad to reach the set temperature depending on
surrounding conditions
.
NOTE: Please refer to section 2 regarding choice of temperature
.
5.4 GEL
PADS
Always use Gel Pads to get an even heat distribution, a greater contact surface and to minimise the risk
of pressure sores. KanMed Gel Pads are best suited for this purpose.
Always place the Gel Pad on top of the Heating Pad. A sheet can be placed between the Gel Pads and
the patient.
It is advantageous to
pre-warm the Gel Pads
to maximum 42°C by, for instance the KanMed Gel
Warming Cabinet. A cold Gel Pad will drain heat from the patient during the first 20 -40 minutes. This is
the time it takes for the Operatherm to warm a KanMed Gel Pad (with a patient lying on it) to skin
temperature.
After about one hour the skin temperature will be in the region of selected temperature less 1-2°C.
5.5 WARM
START
Avoid placing the patient on cold Gel Pads and a cold Heating Pad. Operatherm is designed to be left
switched on continuously so that it can warm gel pads and be ready for use at any time. If you have no
reliable warming cabinet it is possible to roll the Heating Pad with Gel Pads to get a faster warming up.
It can even be left like that so that everything is properly warm for the next patient.
