Reliability of three different brands of adult volume ventilators in a one-year period.
The maintenance records covering a 12-month period for 16 Puritan-Bennett MA-1, 7 Bourns BEAR-1, and 3 Siemens-Elema Servo No. 900-B volume ventilators were compared. The MA-1s had an average of 15,555 hours use prior to the study, compared with 200 average hours on each BEAR and 2,600 on each Servo ventilator. The MA-1s required the least number of repairs and operated longest between repairs, with 18,999 average hours of use per repair, compared with 4,955 hours for the BEAR-1 and 599 hours for the Servo ventilator. The average time required for repair was highest for the MA-1. Most repairs to the BEAR-1 were compressor-related and most were performed in the hospital, as were the repairs to the Servo ventilators. All MA-1 repairs were performed at Puritan-Bennett. The technical advantages of the BEAR-1 and Servo ventilators are convenient, but because of the frequency of repair of these units they are probably more suited to institutions where close supervision and technical backup are available.
D000328:Adult; D003691:Delaware; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006801:Humans; D008284:Maintenance and Engineering, Hospital / Q000191:economics*; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical / Q000592:standards*