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Q: Do Body and Cardiac Protected Areas require regular testing?

A: AS / NZS 2500:2004 Guide to the safe use of electricity in patient care:

5.6.2 Maintenance of electrical systems of PATIENT AREASThe electrical services in all PATIENT AREAS will be tested at the time of commissioning of the area and will need to be tested at regular intervals. AS/NZS 3003 specifies the tests required at commissioning. It is recommended that the areas undergo formal inspection at least once a year to ensure on-going compliance to AS/NZS 3003.

Q: Who should carry out this testing?

A: Engineers or persons suitably licensed and qualified for commissioning and inspection. ESA are fully licensed and qualified to meet these legal requirements.

Q: Does standard testing and tagging cover all equipments in my practice

A: No, standard portable appliance testing to AS 3760:2004 does not cover electro-medical equipments such as patient monitors, dental chairs, 12 lead ECG, laser systems etc. These equipments must be tested annually to AS 3551:2004. This entails safety and functional testing, specialized equipment is required which a portable appliance test set is not capable of doing. Specialist knowledge is also required for this testing, most appliance testers have only done a 1 day course at a TAFE, they may have little or no electrical experience, only a biomedical engineer is qualified to do this testing.