An Ireland-based supplier of healthcare products, Independent Healthcare Service (IHS), is using the Rigel Medical 288 analyser to improve the electrical safety testing of products provided to customers

IHS is now using three of the 288 medical grade testers to ensure the electrical safety of powered bed frames, pressure relieving systems and patient lift and electric wheelchair chargers located in dozens of hospitals, nursing homes and private homes across Ireland.

Using the 288 enables testing of polarity, earth continuity, insulation resistance, operational and earth leakage while the compact style of the testers eases the job of the IHS engineers travelling from site to site undertaking the tests.

Once a test is complete, the analyser will indicate either a pass or fail and print out a barcoded label which can be attached to the tested device. The information collected and stored on the handheld 288 devices can then be uploaded to a Rigel Medical Med-eBase software driven PC database.

Using this software, IHS can provide its customers with reports on all the equipment tested, when the inspections were carried out and which items passed or failed. A certificate, which can be displayed advising that the appliances on the premises have been properly tested for electrical safety, can also be provided.

Paul Cullen, managing director of IHS, said, “The 288 is a great instrument, meeting all our requirements for an advanced medical grade PAT tester. Particularly beneficial is the reporting facility, which enables us to not only provide an added value service but also reassure customers that equipment is fully tested and electrically safe for both the users and the staff who operate it.”

The Rigel 288 incorporates menu driven instructions for simple operation and test control of all IEC 62353 required electrical safety tests in manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic test modes.

Also available is the battery operated Test ‘n’ Tag Elite printer which can generate tamper-proof barcode pass-fail labels or result printouts.

For traceability and safety audit purposes, wireless connection also means that data from the Rigel 288’s large internal memory can be transferred immediately and directly from the tester to PC-based record keeping systems.