Inadequate maintenance can result in incubators that are hazardous to the infant.
Incubators are used for many years, during which time they are subjected to appreciable
shock and vibration because most are mounted on casters and are moved about for cleaning
and storage.
In the past, mechanical stress has damaged temperature control mechanisms,
which, in turn, have overheated infants, causing brain damage or death.
Old incubators that have been relegated to storage can be placed back into service during a
high census period (Figure 93-4).
These semiretired incubators might lack necessary
safety features and manufacturer-recommended upgrades or modifications and can pose
serious risks to neonates.
For example, on some older models, a missing heat shield can
permit an infant to crawl over a hot air vent and thus suffer severe burns.
Lack of maintenance results in the use of incubators with high ambient-noise levels originating from
defective or misaligned air-circulating fans, which can cause hearing loss.
Defective door latches can enable an infant to crawl out of an incubator and fall to the floor (Dyro, 1977).
Older incubators used mercury-based temperature sensors, which often broke, thus exposing
the infant to hazardous mercury vapors (Dyro, 1981).
It was not uncommon to observe a pool of mercury from broken thermometers and mercury switches on the floor of the
heating compartment directly beneath the infant mattress.