The next chapter, Beds, Wheelchairs, and Other General Hospital Devices, explains
that all medical devices must perform satisfactorily and must not pose a threat to patient
or operator safety. Clinical engineering departments have shied away from such low-tech
medical devices as beds, wheelchairs, and stretchers, perhaps because these items are not
sophisticated enough and because the skill level of the department’s staff members
exceeds that required to service these items. Case studies demonstrate that the failure or
misuse of the simplest general hospital medical devices can cause, and has caused, death
and serious injury. Dyro shows that by matching skills and tasks, a clinical engineering
department can cost-effectively manage these oft-forgotten devices to the benefit and
safety of the patient population.
In the last chapter, a methodology is presented for determining the cause of a medical
device malfunction. The generalized and systematic techniques recommended are effective
in troubleshooting all medical devices, whether large or small, costly or inexpensive,
mechanical or electrical, complicated or simple. The methodology applies to all causes of
apparent medical devi