Maintenance Procedure

In two decades of operation, Primary Medical has developed operating procedures and methods to ensure delivering the highest quality at minimum cost. Our proprietary documentation is exhaustive; this note provides a summary or overview.

External inspection for damage or contamination

Disassembly to replace components

Thorough cleaning Inspection for damage or wear

Replacement of degradable components including all wicks and seals

Evaluation and repair or replacement of damaged or worn parts

Lubrication as appropriate Assembly and evaluation of mechanical performance

Calibration and graduation of delivered gas

Verification by sampling over temperature

Final assembly and inspection

Methods

Laboratory environment controlled for temperature, humidity and contamination

Standard laboratory instrumentation

Traceable reference tools and materials

Statistical tools to isolate systematic error

Thermal range evaluation

Time track by serial number to anticipate failure.


Quality Assurance

Proprietary formal documentation underlies all maintenance operations. Every staff member is an experienced technician who contributes to that documentation and is bound to comply with its constraints. Traceability of individual vaporizers and of all tests is enforced through a system of computerized records. Data are analyzed regularly to supplement re-calibration of test equipment. Reference vaporizers and gasses provide regular checks on all procedures and methods to detect changes from any source.

Customer feedback is an essential component of Primary Medical's quality assurance program. We have re-searched and documented issues such as effects of carrier gas, variations due to laboratory and hospital instrumentation, and optimal packaging. In many cases, those studies arose because our customers asked searching questions. We welcome your questions about our methods or about interpreting any observations you may have on vaporizers we have maintained. For example, we simulate the clinical environment to assess the impact of real procedures in a surgical theater and of evaluating a vaporizer with portable field instrumentation. We have been able to identify systematic errors in our customers' operations from anomalies they have reported or observations we have made on their equipment when submitted for maintenance.

Because our quality assurance program has proved effective for more than a decade, we certify, warrant, and insure our services. A formal certificate can be provided on each vaporizer at the time of service to give you a paper trail for your records. Our warranty extends for one year from the time of service for all normal use and assures re-calibration without cost to you. And we maintain a commercial insurance policy against liability due to our services - which is only possible because it has never been invoked. With your feedback and our diligence, we trust that that insurance will never be needed.

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