Joint Commission Preparation: Tip of the Week

TJC Quick Tip for Medical Equipment Involved in an Incident

Medical equipment is equipment utilized for patient Diagnostic, Monitoring, or Therapeutic purposes.

Medical equipment failures are reportable incidents.

1. When a medical equipment failure occurs Clinical staff sequesters the equipment and all disposables used with it for the said incident.
2. Clinical staff contacts the Biomedical Engineering Department to report the details of the incident and location of the medical equipment.
3. Clinical staff enters an incident/event report in the incident/event reporting system (RL).
4. The Biomedical Engineering Department picks up the equipment and tests it to determine causes or potential causes of failure.
5. The Biomedical Engineering Department enters their findings in the corresponding incident/event reporting system (RL).

Reference EC-77 for complete policy and procedure.