Mismatched connections.
Historically, anaesthetic equipment manufacturers used a number of differently-sized connectors in anaesthetic breathing systems. This gave rise to the potentially dangerous possibility of mismatched taper connections and a failure to create a gas-tight breathing system capable of ventilating a patient. The British Standard 3849 of 1965 attempted to correct this problem but manufacturers' designs, in some cases, still caused problems. The problem was aggravated by a move to adopt a slightly different International Standards Organisation design. By the time that universally-interchangeable connectors were widespread twenty years later disposable breathing systems had replaced the old, heavy metal connectors.
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Sir John Case Department of Art, Media and Design, London Metropolitan University, London, UK.
D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation / Q000266:history / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000266:history / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D004868:Equipment Failure; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation