Midwifery Equipment Services

Midwifery Equipment Services

TRH Services is highly involved with servicing equipment from the dynamic medical profession of Midwifery! With the hustle and bustle of the profession, midwives require their equipment to be ready for use and in working order at a moment’s notice. TRH Services servicing program helps to make this possible by preventing excessive wear or sudden equipment failure while prolonging equipment life span.

Midwifery Equipment

Midwifery is the health profession of providing care during pregnancy, labour, birth and the postpartum period for both the individual and newborn [1]. With this medical practice, there is a variety of medical technology available to assist midwives with diagnosing, monitoring and treatment. Due to the dynamic nature of the profession with respect to location, it is important to have regular inspections and maintenance of equipment used. TRH Services provides equipment servicing to Midwives across Ontario, helping to maintain the high standard of care.

Common pieces of equipment TRH Services maintains include:

• Autoclaves
• Blood Pressure Units
• Centrifuges
• Doppler Units
• Infusion Pumps
• Lights – Overhead/Examination
• Otoscopes & Ophthalmoscopes
• Oxygen Equipment & Regulators
• Pulse Oximeters
• Adult Scales
• Pediatric Scales
• Sling Scales
• Suction Units
• Thermometers

Common Midwifery Equipment Failures

Equipment wears over time due to repeated use, variable environments (temperature & humidity) and sometimes a physical strain. Some of the most common equipment failures our team comes across include:

• Damaged doppler probes
• Worn or leaking blood pressure cuffs
• Dead batteries
• Cracked suction canisters
• Worn autoclave door gaskets and chamber filters
• Burnt out examination light bulbs
• Scales reading outside of specification

5 Tips to Maintain Equipment & Pro-long Life Span

1. CLEAN equipment on a regular basis.
2. INSPECT for any visible damage – identifying concerns in the early stage can prevent compounding issues.
3. PLUG units with batteries into charge when not in use.
4. REPLACE worn equipment accessories to minimize strain on equipment.
5. INSTALL new batteries in equipment on a regular basis – consistent with manufacturer specifications.

TRH Services On-site Maintenance

TRH Services’ biomedical technologists come on site and service equipment using TRH Services’ comprehensive testing procedures. Technologists interact with Midwives to address any concerns regarding equipment. Each piece of equipment will be labelled with a “preventative maintenance” sticker indicating it was serviced by TRH Services and the next date for service. All equipment and servicing completed are documented in TRH Services’ computer maintenance management system. This documentation makes it easy to track inventory, servicing history and scheduling of routine maintenance. Following on-site servicing, a summary report of all equipment maintenance is provided. Details on the report include the equipment type, make, model, serial number and location as well as recommendations and required repairs. TRH Services also has an emergency response program for addressing urgent equipment concerns that arise with Midwives.

In the Community

TRH Services recently attended the Ontario Midwifery Conference of 2019 in Markham, Ontario. Biomedical technologists offered to service of equipment directly on-site at a booth in the exhibitor hall.  We appreciate everyone stopping by to ask questions and have their equipment serviced. Keep an eye out for future opportunities at TRH Services equipment servicing booth in the midwifery community!

 

For more details on TRH Services Midwifery equipment servicing, call 519-893-9488 or email info@trhservices.ca

 

Written By: Hannah Arthurs, EIT

Edited By: Tyler Hasenpflug CET

Works Cited:

[1]          Association of Ontario Midwives, “About Midwifery > What is a Midwife?” Association of Ontario Midwives, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.ontariomidwives.ca/what-midwife. [Accessed 28 06 2019].