Medical Gas Services says it can now offer a range of ‘revolutionary’ cylinder brackets impregnated with an antibacterial composite and compounds that offer a degree of effectiveness against harmful microorganisms ‘unmatched by any competitor system’.
The Rochdale-based medical gas specialist says many hours of work went into developing the new range of cylinder brackets, one of the key elements being a new system of temperature control during the cooling and moulding process. This reportedly ensures finished brackets without the brittle characteristics some competitor products exhibit when antibacterial materials are incorporated during manufacture. The innovative temperature control system, and the use of ‘new and modified individual ingredients’, result in a range of brackets that meet five key criteria for potential purchasers:
• Robustness, including the ability to withstand trolley and bed strikes.
• An easily cleanable design, ‘with no crevices or joints’.
• Ease-of-installation (but with a ‘rigid, secure construction’).
• Interchangeability, enabling multi-cylinder size fitting.
• A bracket that is easily identifiable, through the use of bold colours.
The company said: “We believe no other company has developed a range of medical gas cylinder brackets of this type offering such effective antibacterial properties. All medical gas cylinders should be kept with the correct brackets and trolleys, but if these are harbouring germs, then the bacteria are passed on to the cylinders themselves, and then, potentially, onto patients. “Impregnating the plastic and composite materials used to form cylinder brackets with anti-bacterial materials normally changes the materials’ properties to form a brittle composite, or reduce the effectiveness of the anti-bacterial substance if overheated. However, with our new and innovative system of temperature control, and the new and modified individual ingredients within our materials, we have come up with a range of products that meet all of the aforementioned specifier criteria. “The testing regime has also been as severe as we could make it. In fact we have even driven a 3-tonne Range Rover vehicle over the cradle to demonstrate its robustness, which did not impinge upon its integrity.” Medical Gas Services offers ‘complete cylinder management packages’, including audits, training, and equipment supply and maintenance, ‘to ensure compliance and safety for all types of healthcare establishments’.
