Ventilation and monitoring equipment: Italian report from ASSOBIOMEDICA

The analysis was performed with the support of the manufacturers, which provided information on the equipment installed in the hospitals, and was focused on the following classes of equipment:

• Ventilation equipment for anaesthesia
• Ventilation equipment for intensive care and mobile units
• Multi-parameter monitors
• Monitoring workstations

The geographic analysis was stratified for North, Centre, and South/Islands. The highest number of units per million of inhabitants was registered in the Centre while the lowest was in the South/Islands.

For all the classes of equipment analysed, the survey showed that most of the installed units are older than 5 years and many are even older than 10 years. Ventilation equipment for anaesthesia: 36.5% between 5 and 10 years; 39% over 10 years; Ventilation equipment for intensive care and mobile units: 33.5% between 5 and 10 years; 52.3% over 10 years; Multi-parameter monitors: 40.2% between 5 and 10 years; 27.1% over 10 years; Monitoring workstations: 39.4% between 5 and 10 years; 26.6% over 10 years.

Mean age for the classes of equipment analysed emerged to be as following: Ventilation equipment for anaesthesia, 9.7 years; Ventilation equipment for intensive care and mobile units, 12.6 years; Multi-parameter monitors, 7.9 years; Monitoring workstations, 7.9 years.

The report presents also an analysis that, taking into account the latest technical advances in the field, estimated 6 years as a maximum acceptable age for the four classes of equipment. The majority of the equipment installed falls over this age (Ventilation equipment for anaesthesia, 63.4%; Ventilation equipment for intensive care and mobile units, 74.7%; Multi-parameter monitors, 54%; Monitoring workstations, 52.8%). 

See the report in Italian here.

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