I need emergency backup lights for my hospital... suggestions?

[djans1397]

I made this a separate response to keep the length down on the last one. One thing no one has touched on is battery management. If you are going to issue or stockpile lights, you will have to have a battery management program of some sort. For issued lights you will have to have replacements available upon request. For stockpiled lights, not only will you need replacements, you will have to have some periodic testing and battery replacement program in place. Stockpiled lights don't do very much good if during the first crucial minutes of power failure everyone is standing around the nurses' station replacing stale [dead or almost dead] batteries! This should be included as part of your scheduled activities in your Contingency Management Plan - you do have a CMP, don't you?

It also wouldn't hurt to have a case or so of those little mini chem lights around. When power goes off and the generator backup fails, just grab a couple of orderlies, give them each a bunch of the minichems and a roll of scotch tape, and tell them to activate one for every room and tape it to the door frame about head height. That way there would be a sort of night light for the patients so they could orient themselves in their rooms, and not have a bunch of patients freaking out because their rooms are pitch black. :candle: They could also fasten one every so many rooms in the hallway for the same purpose. This is where those pre-cut packaging Scotch tapes and a small carpenter apron would be nice - reach in to the apron and grab a chemlight, snap and shake with one hand, grab a piece of tape from your wrist with the other and tape it up. Then grap, snap, and shake while on your way to the next room.

And to think - they used to pay me to sit around and think of stuff like this! (Of course, I also had to implement it then - the hard part of the job)

Great advice! Thanks. I think I'm going to add chem sticks to the arsenal as well.

 

[Ralph_S]

Good point in recommending Headlamps.


Perhaps they'd be less likely to "walk away",


since most folks think headlamps are "Dorky".



Good Luck to you.

_

People have told me that my Myo XP makes me look like an extra-terrestrial, which I find pleasing. When I see someone wearing a headlamp, my initial assumption is that the person is well-prepared and competent.

I used to think that bike helmets looked "dorky." I got over that concern almost 30 years ago, luckily before an accident in which I needed a helmet...

I was riding by moonlight, without using my hands. I was tired of riding hunched over, tired of the noise, drag, and vibration of the tire-driven generator. The path went under a tree that shaded the moonlight, my front wheel went into a pothole, and I lost control. In past crashes, I had caught myself on my hands, but this time I could not see. The ground came at me from my side, not my front as I was imagining. That dorky helmet saved my head.

It was not wisdom and maturity that made me start wearing a helmet. I had gone on a group ride, and a young lady asked me why I wasn't wearing a helmet. I explained that I had bought one, but I thought it looked odd. Her look of disapproval cast the deciding vote in support of my common sense, and I never since have ridden without a helmet. Now, I rarely am far from a headlamp or two, and flashlights as well. For me, their utility is sufficient reason to use them.

 

[MrGman]

Excellent story. You get 10 attaboys for being ready to help with what they asked for. :twothumbs

I am sure that some one is already working on making sure back up generator's and emergency wall light units are working for the next time and that they didn't task you with this and they don't need to be reminded as to getting these higher priority items up and running.

You may at some point in time suggest that they do some regular testing of those systems to know they are working instead of waiting to find out the hard way that they are not.

In the meantime you asked about flashlights to donate or have the hospital stock up on as further back up plan to have lighting every where it is needed. This is excellent as well.

The previous recommendations for plastic Streamlights or the other brand of safety rated plastic flashlight in addition to some headlamp systems is the way to go. The handheld flashlights should run on 4 AA batteries, the Eveready lithiums, mostly for the purpose of making them just a little too big to be put into a pocket and forgotten about and taken out of the building, but also for long runtime, as you never know how long the power will really be out and who wants to deal with battery changes at a time like that. The headlamp units should be at nurses stations. A decent combination of both types of lights will help with the direct lighting needs problem.

You could propose to the hospital director to have a drill on some not too busy night where they test out the switchover to the emergency generator and the staff has to pull out all the flashlights and see that everything is operational for a 15 minute walk through inspection. In reality an emergency preparedness drill of some sort should be done at least twice a year.

You might wind up being a bigger hero when the big power out event comes and everyone is actually prepared and everything is handled well.

 

[KD5XB]

Do the lights need to be rated as intrinsically safe in the presence of oxygen, or is that not an issue?

I notice this one hasn't been answered -- and I don't have the answer, either.

Oxygen is one thing -- it's an oxidizer, of course. But I think I remember that certain anesthetics were/are explosive, even more so than gaseous oxygen. Is this still true, and is this something that should be considered in sourcing flashlights for a hospital?

And I agree with the others -- GET THAT GENERATOR WORKING. That's your primary, the flashlights should be like all the old maids of Grinders' Switch -- "always ready and never called"!

 

[Timothybil]

I notice this one hasn't been answered -- and I don't have the answer, either.

Oxygen is one thing -- it's an oxidizer, of course. But I think I remember that certain anesthetics were/are explosive, even more so than gaseous oxygen. Is this still true, and is this something that should be considered in sourcing flashlights for a hospital?

And I agree with the others -- GET THAT GENERATOR WORKING. That's your primary, the flashlights should be like all the old maids of Grinders' Switch -- "always ready and never called"!

Oxygen will support a flame, but will not ignite on its own. Some anesthetic gases WILL ignite on their own, with oxygen adding its two cents worth. I remember having an outpatient procedure done in the 80s - I was chatting with the staff and noticed a strip running around the room with what looked like large snaps every so often. I was told that when using gas for the main anesthesia was common, everyone in the room wore a ground strap, as well as all the equipment, and that was where the straps fastened. So I would say that any lights used in the OR should be intrinsic, but in the rooms where O2 was in use anything would be okay unless some moron wanted to use candles for emergency lighting. Don't laugh, I have known a few purchasing agents that would think that a good deal on tea candles would make great emergency lights for the rooms. They've done stupider things!

 

[notrefined]

Really old-time volatile anesthetics- ether and cyclopropane- were extremely combustible. The modern volatiles- desflurane, sevoflurane, isoflurane and in rare cases halothane- are not.

The fire triangle in the modern OR includes the combination of oxidizers in the anesthesia circuit (oxygen and nitrous oxide), fuel (cloth or plastic drapes, plastic endotracheal tubes, and human flesh), and sources of ignition (heat and sparks from electrocautery and various lasers). A flashlight is really a non-issue in this environment, and I (as an anesthesiologist) carry and occasionally use my own flashlight and headlamp in the OR.

 

[djans1397]

Really old-time volatile anesthetics- ether and cyclopropane- were extremely combustible. The modern volatiles- desflurane, sevoflurane, isoflurane and in rare cases halothane- are not.

The fire triangle in the modern OR includes the combination of oxidizers in the anesthesia circuit (oxygen and nitrous oxide), fuel (cloth or plastic drapes, plastic endotracheal tubes, and human flesh), and sources of ignition (heat and sparks from electrocautery and various lasers). A flashlight is really a non-issue in this environment, and I (as an anesthesiologist) carry and occasionally use my own flashlight and headlamp in the OR.

Thanks for this bit of info! Any info from a fellow medical worker is greatly appreciated.:thumbsup:

Dan