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Shire Controls Ltd: Setting the standard in medical gas alarm systems
In this issue of Healthcare Matters, we are delighted to welcome Shire Controls Ltd as our Medical Gas Alarm Manufacturing Company of the Month
UK-based Shire Controls Ltd has been manufacturing since 1980 and supplies Medical Gas Alarms and Anaesthetic Gas Scavenging System (A.G.S.S) to the hospital sector across the UK and Ireland.
The three manufactured models of Area Alarm are the: SA-6, SAX-6 and newer SAX-D, alongside the Plant Alarm, SDX-15. In addition to the medical Gas Alarms, Shire Controls manufactures the Duplex and Simplex A.G.S.S plant. All Medical Gas Alarms and AGSS are registered medical devices, fully compliant to HTM02-01 and are both UKCA and CE marking, under UK MDR 2002 and EU MDR respectively. All Shire products can be linked to any hospital BMS.
We spoke to Office Manager and Director Greg Gardiner about how the company has fared over the last twelve months, “We’ve just come back from a successful run at Healthcare Estates 2024, connecting with existing hospital engineers and other partners. The earlier IHEEM AE Conference at Epsom Racecourse was also a success for the company.
“We specialise in alarms for piped medical gases and other related alarm systems, with our alarms found in most hospital Trusts across the UK and Ireland. Medical gas alarm systems essentially monitor the status of the medical gas supply in realtime and detect faults instantly. They are installed in operating theatres, surgery rooms, recovery areas, ICUs, and emergency areas.”
The SAX-6 Area Alarm is a medical gas alarm with many distinguishable features:
: Handy Compact size – The alarm measures 244 mm wide, 178 mm high, and 45 mm deep.
: Simple design connection – The alarm connects to end of line components with just three cores.
: Easy maintenance – The alarm's connections are ‘plug and socket’ and the alarm components can be changed in under two minutes (loved by hospital engineers!)
: LED indicators – The alarm has three LED indicators on the front panel that indicate the alarm status:
: P LED – Indicates pressure switch inputs
: Green LEDs – Indicate normal conditions
: Gas level warnings – The alarm displays gas level warnings if any gas pressure is out of the pre-set operating range
“In the last two years, we have introduced the SAX-D to our hospital customer base. It is a standalone alarm or alternatively can be configured to operate as a repeater to another SAX-D alarm. It can be easily retrofitted to the existing SA-6 or SAX-6 and displays pipeline pressure for up to 6 gases. It is quick and easy to install, with a wireless pressure setting and comes with an early warning alarm condition. It is HTM 02-01 compliant Class 1 Medical Device.
“Our R&D team listened to feedback from hospital engineers and improved the design functionality with the SAX-D and included instructions for the hospital nurses, in the rare event of the alarm going off. Many of the nurses haven’t done a refresher course for years and in a hospital setting, it’s imperative that it’s business as usual at all times. During the height of the COVID pandemic, we were working six days a week to cover demand, including supplying alarms to the seven purpose-built NHS Nightingale Hospitals.”
