Clean and continuous power is critical to many medical applications. Electricity powers vital care equipment such as scanners or heart monitors. It also powers diagnostic devices and wearables processing the data of thousands of patients, which doctors use doctors to help monitor and manage their conditions.
Uninterruptible power supplies offer hospitals and other medical facilities the ultimate insurance against damaging electrical outages or even fluctuations in supply.
We speak to Health Business magazine about the importance of medical UPS systems and the value of a solid UPS maintenance regime.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
A hospital UPS is just as complex as any MRI scanner or sensitive scientific research lab equipment it’s protecting. Components suffer wear and tear. While no piece of electrical equipment is completely immune from an unexpected fault or failure.
Preventive maintenance visits (PMVs) are the most effective way to reduce the risk of downtime. This’ll see engineers carry out routine checks, as well as updating firmware so the UPS runs at its most efficient.
An ongoing maintenance contract also offers peace of mind if the worst was to ever happen. It spells out in black and white the emergency response time the hospital, doctor’s surgery, or other facilities will get if their UPS ever goes offline.
Our article explains, however, that all UPS maintenance contracts aren’t created equally. It’s important healthcare facilities managers seek clarity on several points before signing on the dotted line.
These include what spare parts are covered and how quickly they can be on site. In addition, it’s vital any field engineer is competent and fully trained. This is particularly the case if you opt for a third-party maintenance provider rather than the UPS manufacturer itself.