Electrical Systems In Healthcare Facilities
Hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities rely heavily on their electrical power systems to ensure that they continue to run. A small fault or failure in a system can cause costly downtime and damage equipment. That’s why it is important to have a team of experienced electricians and electrical engineers ready to do the work for you.
Reliability
Even small electrical failures can lead to extensive downtime and costly repairs. While electrical power systems vary greatly between different sites, the reliability of those power systems should always be a primary consideration for facility managers. This is especially true in the case of hospitals and other large facilities where budgets can be extremely limited. Reliability engineering helps teams proactively address equipment failures and minimize unplanned maintenance costs. It also enables teams to spend more time on value-added activities and less time firefighting during an incident. Reliability engineering requires a thorough understanding of power system design and operations. It also includes the ability to understand the importance of environmental impacts in an effort to maximize lifecycle optimization and reduce fugitive emissions.
Safety
Electrical systems in healthcare facilities need to be designed and installed with the safety of people and equipment in mind. Even small power outages lasting only seconds can jeopardize patient care or damage sensitive laboratory or research equipment. This is why, in hospital setups, electrical planning needs to be done conscientiously, writes Ikyatha Yerasala. Among the most important tasks for electrical safety in hospitals is making sure that all the equipment used are grounded. This is especially true for medical devices, which are the main sources of electric current in healthcare settings. These include electrocardiogram monitors, X-ray machines and defibrillators, to name just a few.
Maintenance
Keeping electrical systems operating efficiently requires comprehensive maintenance strategies and a strong knowledge of the best practices. Health facilities professionals should consider a wide range of safety and reliability issues when creating a maintenance plan for their critical power systems. One way that health care organizations can address these problems is by adopting a data-driven approach to maintenance. This strategy focuses on analyzing and addressing power system anomalies in real-time. It also helps reduce the labor required to conduct routine inspections. Moreover, it can be used to monitor power usage and make informed decisions about where to strategically power down non-critical areas or devices. This can help hospitals manage their power costs while also improving patient experience.
Upgrades
Energy consumption is the second-largest expense behind staff compensation, so ensuring electricity reliability is important for hospital management. Recent utility grid failures related to storms and overloads have brought renewed attention to this critical infrastructure. Combined heat and power (CHP) technologies offer hospitals a dependable source of power that improves facility resiliency by boosting off-grid operation capabilities, ensuring a consistent power supply during blackouts and lowers utility costs. As health care facilities evolve, they need resilient infrastructure that safeguards human life and allows them to operate effectively in the face of evolving facility loads. Upgrading aging electrical systems, HVAC, helipads and other facility infrastructures can help reduce risk, facilitate maintenance and ensure the safety of patients and personnel.