CORRESPONDENCE |
Inter-hospital transfers
E-mail: andycooney{at}hotmail.comEditor—An audit of inter-hospital transfers undertaken in 2003 by the Thames Valley Critical Care Network identified equipment failure as a significant problem, and battery failure was the predominant cause of equipment failure.
To address this problem, we have purchased and modified a standard 12 V DC to 240 V AC current invertor (Fig. 1). This simply plugs into the 12 V socket in the back of the ambulance. The 600 W invertor has a 3 A fuse. It has a single three-pin socket and can power one of either a syringe driver (1.2 A), Oxylog, or monitor (800 mA via its powerpack). We had to modify our connector, as our local ambulances have 12 mm German 12 V sockets, rather than the normal 20 mm cigar-lighter type, but this was a simple task as adaptors are available.
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One problem is that the power output could, in theory, take the power demand over the ambulance's alternator capacity. If the invertor is used, we inform the crew who can turn off a different power drain, such as the heater, siren or extra lights (safety permitting).
Milton Keynes, UK
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