EditorAn audit of inter-hospital transfers undertaken in 2003 by the Thames Valley Critical Care Network identified equipment failure as a significant problem, and battery failure was the predominant cause of equipment failure.
To address this problem, we have purchased and modified a standard 12 V DC to 240 V AC current invertor (Fig. 1). This simply plugs into the 12 V socket in the back of the ambulance. The 600 W invertor has a 3 A fuse. It has a single three-pin socket and can power one of either a syringe driver (1.2 A), Oxylog, or monitor (800 mA via its powerpack). We had to modify our connector, as our local ambulances have 12 mm German 12 V sockets, rather than the normal 20 mm cigar-lighter type, but this was a simple task as adaptors are available.
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Milton Keynes, UK