CJA
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a scholarly reply
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dobson, G.
Right arrow Articles by Brousseau, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dobson, G.
Right arrow Articles by Brousseau, P.
Canadian Journal of Anesthesia 52:774 (2005)
© Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society, 2005

Correspondence

3.5-Volt laryngoscope charger problem

Greg Dobson, MD, Dan Cashen, RRT and Paul Brousseau, RRT

QEII Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, Canada, E-mail: Paul.Brousseau{at}dal.ca

To the Editor:

In an effort to improve the quality of light available to anesthesia staff at the time of intubation, our institution converted from the 2.5-volt battery powered fibreoptic bronchoscopy laryngoscope handles, to the 3.5-volt rechargeable handles. The chargers are placed on every anesthetic machine at our hospital. The 3.5-volt handles are kept in the chargers between intubations. We were alerted to this equipment related issue early in the implementation of the Heine® (Herrsching, Germany) 3.5 volt laryngoscope handles and chargers.

A new battery pack, fully charged, will last for several months, before it needs recharging, during regular use in the anesthesia setting. We were surprised when two separate handles were completely drained of power, having been in the charger for several hours.

The power light on the charger was on (FigureGo, arrow C) but the batteries were not charging. Upon closer inspection we noticed the metal contact phalange had become dislodged at the top and had fallen down over (but not touching) the primary electrical power contact indicated in the Figure by arrow A. The proper positioning of the phalange is shown in the Figure by arrow B. When the laryngoscope handle was placed in the charger, rather than seating on the primary electrical power contact, the laryngoscope handle depressed the phalange (but would not properly seat on the primary power contact), which completed the low voltage circuit, and the green light came on (FigureGo, arrow C). This gave the appearance of proper function without charging the handle. The handle would eventually drain of power and not light. This incident demonstrates a single fault condition that led to device failure.



View larger version (72K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIGURE Heine 3.5 volt laryngoscope charger from above and side view.

 





This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a scholarly reply
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dobson, G.
Right arrow Articles by Brousseau, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dobson, G.
Right arrow Articles by Brousseau, P.

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS