Health officials in Sochi chose the gold standard when selecting a medical air system to be installed in their hospital facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Atlas Copco was called upon to supply the system for a newly-developed surgical unit that was built especially for the hosting of the event.
Surgical Hospital No. 6 was opened in June 2013 as part of a major development of health facilities in the area in preparation for the Games.
The six-storey building has two surgical operating rooms, as well as emergency, intensive care and laboratory departments. The hospital recently purchased Atlas Copco’s medical air plant cAIR-1800DG and medical vacuum plant mVAC-1000T, which provide the surgical and emergency rooms with 100% pure medical air.
Installation of the system followed close collaboration between Atlas Copco’s medical air division regional distributor, Aral Engineering and project management company, Giprozdrav. As a world leader in compressor and vacuum technology, Atlas Copco’s reputation for market-leading reliability, outstanding quality and excellent energy efficiency were key factors in the decision to select this company’s equipment over that of other manufacturers.
Chief engineer Shkarev Igor Pavlovitch said: “The selection process was very strict and proposals were submitted by a number of different manufacturers. First of all we paid attention to basic parameters such as reliability, durability and high performance. We also sought the opinion of our colleagues from other clinics that use central medical air plants. Another reason we chose Atlas Copco was because they offered staff training from an Atlas Copco service engineer.”
He added that although the equipment had only been in place for a short time it was running smoothly and already showing high levels of quality and reliability, such that he is happy to recommend Atlas Copco to other hospitals in the Krasnodar region.
Maria Borisik, Atlas Copco’s business line manager for Medical Air in Russia, said: “We were very proud to be involved with this fantastic project. A reliable source of medical air is critical to patient safety and will play an important role in the treatment and care that the hospital provides over the course of the Winter Olympics.”
The Atlas Copco Medical Air Plant is based on specially designed, reliable, medical compressors and dryers and therefore provides an uninterrupted air supply in critical situations. If the central controller should fail, every element of the system still has its own controller. Every compressor and dryer is subject to comprehensive Quality Assurance controls, and is fully tested prior to dispatch.
Additionally, the medical sector is more tightly regulated than ever before. Atlas Copco’s Medical Air Plant is pre-certified to international regulations including Pharmacopoeia and quality norms such as ISO 13485. It also complies with the most demanding standards and regulations, such as Medical Device Directive MDD 93/42/EEC, EN ISO 7396-1, ISO 14971 and Health Technical Memorandums HTM 02-01 and HTM 2022. Furthermore, it is designed and manufactured according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and the ISO 13485:2003 quality management system.
Meanwhile, Atlas Copco’s mVAC systems provide reliable medical vacuum for a variety of applications, mainly in operating theaters, intensive care, emergency and respirology units. An mVAC system consists of two to six air-cooled rotary vane type vacuum pumps and a central controller with an intelligent graphical user interface. The pumps can work independently to satisfy the required vacuum flow.