Clot-Free Operation Ensures Maximum Uptime for Blood Gas Analyzers

Since Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust installed five cobas® b 123 POC Systems in critical care areas throughout Walsall Manor Hospital in September 2012, Point of Care Testing (POCT) Coordinator, Sarah Brown, has not had to deal with a single blockage due to clots in any of these point of care blood gas analysers. This has helped to maximize analyzer uptime in areas of the hospital where rapid and reliable results are extremely important for the monitoring and care of critically ill patients.

The cobas b 123 POC System has a unique clot-catching mechanism, which detects clots in the sample in 3 different places within the system and remotely ejects them immediately into waste.

“Poor samples would occasionally cause blockages to occur in our previous machines. This would take the analyzer out of service while a member of staff removed the blockage. Not only would this cause delays for the department concerned, but it also required valuable staff time,” explains Sarah Brown. “Since the cobas b 123 POC Systems were installed we have not experienced a single blockage due to clots. This has reduced downtime and delays, and prevents the need for laboratory staff to leave the department.”

Performing around 50,000 tests per year, the cobas b 123 POC Systems at Walsall Manor Hospital are situated in the High Dependency Unit (HDU), Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU), Acute Medical Unit (AMU), Theatres and the Accident and Emergency Ward. The systems are extremely easy to use and require minimal maintenance, making them ideal for use at the point of care.

“We use the cobas b 123 POC System extensively in Critical Care,” adds Practice Development Nurse Critical Care, Matthew Kelly. “An essential requirement for any patient in Critical Care is accurate monitoring of arterial blood gases and other important parameters measured by the cobas b 123, such as lactate, electrolytes and hemoglobin. Accurate results are of the utmost importance in order to guide therapy in the critically ill patient.”

“System downtime directly affects patient care and treatment,” he continues, “but the cobas b 123 has eliminated blockages and downtime due to clots. This minimizes interruptions, ensures reliable monitoring of patient samples and promotes more accurate results, leading to prompt and appropriate treatment of patients.”

To find out more about the cobas b 123 POC System, please click on the ‘request information’ tab below.