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About Home Medical Equipment

Using Medical Equipment At Home Safely

If you have medical equipment in your home to take care of yourself. Most pieces of medical equipment use electricity to work.

If electrical medical equipment is not handled and cared for properly, it may cause injury to you, your family, and your property. Electrical equipment can cause accidents, electrical shocks, or fires.

Follow these rules to keep you and your family safe from injury that may be caused by electrical equipment. Many of these rules apply to all electrical equipment in your home, not just medical equipment.

• Be sure you know how to use each piece of equipment and follow instructions exactly.

• Do not use equipment with frayed or cracked cords.

• The electrical plug should fit snugly into the wall outlet.

If it does not, the wall outlet should be replaced. Call an electrician, or someone who is skilled in working with electricity, to replace the outlet.

• Do not plug multiple devices into a single duplex outlet. This will overload the fuse or circuit.

• Do not use extension cords. Place equipment as close to the outlet as possible. If necessary, use a power strip box.

• Turn off all equipment before unplugging it.

• Remove plugs from the wall by grasping the plug rather than the line cord. Pull straight out with a steady motion.

• Electrical cords should be taped down to avoid tripping over the cord.

• All medical equipment for patient used should have 3 pronged plugs.

• Do not touch the electrical equipment and the patient at the same time.

• Keep the area where the equipment is dry. Be careful not to spill liquids on equipment.

• Keep a maintenance checklist if you have several pieces of medical equipment at home. Follow the maintenance schedule and procedures as directed by the Equipment Company.

• Keep the name and phone number of the equipment company and the operating instructions in a safe place so they will not be thrown away.

• Know where the circuit breaker or fuse box is and how it works.

• Label the box so you know which circuit or fuse goes to each outlet in your house.

• If any equipment has broken or defective connectors, knobs, or switches, call the Equipment Company where you got the equipment. Be sure to call them for any other problems with the medical equipment.

• Make sure you have smoke detectors and a Class C (red) fire extinguisher at home.

• Never turn off or cover the alarms on medical equipment.

• Keep emergency phone numbers next to the phone in case of an emergency.

Include phone numbers for:

• Fire

• Ambulance

• Local hospital emergency room

• Equipment company

• Be sure to review these safety rules with everyone living with everyone living with you at home.

• Call your power company to let them know you have medical equipment in your home. This will put you on a priority list if there is a power outage.

• Ask your equipment company about battery back-up for your equipment in case the power goes off.