CABT Installation, Maintenance & Troubleshooting 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During preventive maintenance on a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, the technician discovers the drug library is outdated. What is the correct action?
- Continue PM without updating the library
- Update the drug library per facility protocol and pharmacy approval before returning to service (Correct answer)
- Delete the library and allow nurses to enter values manually
- Return the pump to service and notify IT later
Correct answer: Update the drug library per facility protocol and pharmacy approval before returning to service
An outdated drug library is a patient safety risk; it must be updated per facility protocol with pharmacy approval before the PCA pump is returned to clinical use.
Question 2: A biomedical technician suspects RF interference is affecting a telemetry monitoring system. Which action is most appropriate initially?
- Replace all telemetry transmitters immediately
- Identify and document the interference source and notify the clinical engineering and IT teams (Correct answer)
- Turn off all wireless devices on the floor
- Rewire the nursing station network
Correct answer: Identify and document the interference source and notify the clinical engineering and IT teams
The first step is to identify and document the RF interference source systematically and escalate to appropriate teams before taking corrective action.
Question 3: What is the significance of a 'risk score' assigned to a medical device in the equipment management program?
- It reflects the device purchase cost
- It determines the maintenance priority, frequency, and inclusion criteria for the device (Correct answer)
- It indicates the device's age
- It reflects the number of times the device has been repaired
Correct answer: It determines the maintenance priority, frequency, and inclusion criteria for the device
A risk score based on function, physical risk, and maintenance requirements determines a device's maintenance priority, interval, and whether it is included in the management program.
Question 4: When calibrating a patient scale used for medication dosing, the biomedical technician should use calibration weights that are:
- Any available weights found in the department
- NIST-traceable certified calibration weights (Correct answer)
- Weights approximating the average patient weight only
- Weights from a previous calibration kit, regardless of certification status
Correct answer: NIST-traceable certified calibration weights
Calibration must use NIST-traceable certified weights to ensure the calibration result is metrologically valid and legally defensible.
Question 5: A suction regulator used in the OR fails to maintain set vacuum pressure. After checking the wall vacuum supply and finding it adequate, the most likely internal cause is:
- A failed power supply
- A worn diaphragm or damaged internal valve seat (Correct answer)
- Incorrect unit placement
- An expired PM sticker
Correct answer: A worn diaphragm or damaged internal valve seat
With adequate wall vacuum supply, internal vacuum regulator failures are most commonly caused by a worn diaphragm or damaged valve seat that prevents proper pressure control.
Question 6: Which type of maintenance is performed in response to an unexpected equipment failure?
- Preventive maintenance
- Corrective maintenance (Correct answer)
- Scheduled inspection
- Predictive maintenance
Correct answer: Corrective maintenance
Corrective maintenance is unplanned maintenance performed after equipment failure to restore it to operational condition.
Question 7: When returning a repaired biomedical device to service, the technician must ensure that:
- Only the repaired component is tested
- All safety tests are completed, results are documented, and the device is labeled appropriately (Correct answer)
- The device is returned as quickly as possible without documentation
- Only the clinical staff approve the return
Correct answer: All safety tests are completed, results are documented, and the device is labeled appropriately
Post-repair safety testing, complete documentation of results, and appropriate device labeling are all required before a device is returned to clinical service.
CABT Installation, Maintenance & Troubleshooting 5
During preventive maintenance on a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, the technician discovers the drug library is outdated.
What is the correct action?