Emergencies shouldn’t be delayed due to hospital beds in disuse. Finding an available medical equipment technician to repair a hospital bed at odd hours can be inconvenient and unreliable. Sometimes, a hospital needs to wait until the following weekday to have someone service or repair the beds. Most often, this is unacceptable. Below, we discuss the most common hospital bed equipment breakdowns and how hospital bed repairs can be made simpler.
What Breaks Down the Most?
Though hospital beds have grown in technological advancement over recent decades, they are still subject to component malfunction or damage. Here are three of the most popular components of a hospital bed known for malfunctions and breakdowns.
Wheels
Have you ever visited the grocery store and accidentally selected a broken cart with a jammed wheel? Just as wheels are imperative to a working shopping cart, fully functioning wheels are necessary for a serviceable hospital bed. The purpose of having wheels on hospital beds is to transfer patients from one location to the next without having to lift them into a wheelchair. Especially for patients with chest or neck trauma, using a wheeled hospital bed could prevent further injuries. Wheel malfunctions can take a few different forms, from jamming in place to a failing locking function. Regardless, it’s imperative that repairs are made before returning the hospital bed into rotation.
Bed Frame and Handrails
Bed frames and handrails are another important component to a hospital bed’s functionality. Adjustable through an electric remote or panel, these components are used to support the mattress and help technicians transport the patient. Traditionally, bed frames and handrails are lightweight and flexible for ease of use. However, if a handrail jams in place or the bed frame support malfunctions, the safety of a patient could be at risk. Therefore, if either the handrails or bed frame appear to be out of order, remove the bed from use and have a medical equipment technician assess the functionality and perform appropriate repairs.
Programming
Programming behind the hospital bed allows you to adjust the bed into a position most desirable for the patient. Is the programming not working when you try to raise or lower the bed? Are adjustments not being recognized? Hospital beds with a malfunctioning program can be the trickiest repair to identify. As the issue could be the motor or the junction box, the medical equipment technician may need to run a few diagnostics tests or reset it altogether. With modern hospital beds offering hi-tech equipment, you need to assess both the footboard and patient siderail control panels.
Simplify Hospital Bed Repair with the Right Medical Equipment Lift
Over the years, medical equipment manufacturers have exponentially upgraded their hospital bed features to provide superior comfort to patients. As a result of all the modifications, however, modern medical beds are now heavier and contain more moving parts than older models. Therefore, finding the right hospital bed lift will make the medical technician’s job easier.
Hospital Bed Lifting Equipment
Servicing and maintaining high-tech hospital beds demands priority in productivity. Returning repaired beds to their subsequent hospitals is crucial. However, as beds are serviced, medical equipment repair technicians often need to bend down to repair a specific motor or other component. As repairs are continually made, technicians can experience chronic pain, fatigue, or even lasting injury. To effectively prevent injury and inconvenience, the use of hospital bed lifts make repairs simpler and more time effective.
HBL-1000
Owning a mechanical lift such as the HBL-1000 will ensure the safest and most efficient hospital bed servicing in the industry. This lift was one of the first safe and economical hospital bed lifting solutions introduced to the industry. Though the HBL-1000 services many hospital bed models, it is most compatible lifting hospital beds manufactured by Hill-Rom, Stryker, Joerns, Gendron, and Drive. The HBL-1000 makes servicing and repair safer and more efficient, raising hospital beds to raise to a proper, ergonomic height for maintenance.
Lifting Capacity
As the standard model, the HBL-1000 offers a lifting capacity of 1,000 pounds. This allows nearly any hospital bed to be safely lifted and moved for maintenance. Available lifting heights for this model provide optimal range for repairs and servicing at limits of 48 inches, 60 inches, or 72 inches.
Lift Arm Width Adjustment
Though the standard lift arm width is 16 inches, the HBL-1000 offers extending lengths of up to 60 inches, allowing your medical equipment technicians to decide the necessary width needed to lift both narrow and wide hospital beds or any other medical equipment. This feature creates a safer and more stabilized lift that caters to various hospital bed widths as the lift evenly distributes the lifted weight.
Telescoping Folding Arms
This feature offers a dual purpose. The main function of this compartment is to telescope, or swivel out, and lock in place to assist in lifting the bed from the bottom frame. When not in use, the arms can discreetly fold in towards the lift base in order to keep the floor area clear, preventing itself from becoming a tripping hazard. The standard lift length of the telescoping folding arms is 48 inches.
Simplify Hospital Bed Repair with SVI Medical
At SVI Medical, we are dedicated to providing the safest medical equipment repair lifts, customized to perfectly fit the hospital beds at your facility. Recently, our lifts caught the attention of major hospital bed manufacturers – we offer high quality products customizable to your specific equipment needs. With our custom medical lift components that fit seamlessly with your facility’s equipment, your biomedical technicians will spend less time safely positioning a bed to service in an efficient manner. If your facility has any complex hospital beds in need of servicing or repair, know that you can trust our experts at SVI Medical to provide the best suited service lifts and lift components. Contact us today at (800) 321-8173 with any questions.