Medical Equipment & Infrastructure Maintenance Flashcards
7 cards from real ASHE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Equipment & Infrastructure Maintenance flashcards as text
A hospital CT scanner gantry cooling system fails, causing the X-ray tube to overheat and shut down. Which infrastructure system failure most likely caused this?
Answer: Chilled water supply interruption to the equipment room
CT scanners rely on building chilled water or facility HVAC to cool the gantry and X-ray tube; a chilled water supply failure is the most common infrastructure cause of thermal shutdown.
When performing a battery backup test on a portable patient monitor, which parameter most directly measures the battery's ability to support clinical use?
Answer: Runtime at full operational load until low-battery alarm activates
Runtime under full operational load directly measures whether the battery can sustain the device for its intended clinical use duration.
According to NFPA 99, what is the minimum number of hospital-grade receptacles required at a general care patient bed location?
Answer: 4 receptacles on at least 2 circuits
NFPA 99 requires a minimum of four receptacles for each patient bed in a general care area, connected to at least two separate circuits.
A facilities engineer is designing an equipment maintenance schedule for a hospital's fleet of 800 medical devices. What is the most effective strategy to reduce unplanned downtime without increasing PM labor costs proportionally?
Answer: Implement risk-stratified PM intervals using Maintenance Allocation (MTBF and criticality data)
Risk stratification using MTBF (mean time between failures) and device criticality allows high-risk devices to receive more frequent PM while lower-risk devices can be maintained less frequently, optimizing resource allocation.
A hospital boiler producing steam for sterilization is found to have a safety relief valve that has not been tested in 3 years. What is the correct action?
Answer: Remove the relief valve from service for bench testing or replacement and do not operate the boiler until it is replaced
An untested safety relief valve is a serious pressure vessel safety hazard; the boiler should not operate without a certified relief valve in place, requiring removal for proper testing or replacement.
Which federal regulation requires hospitals to maintain records of medical device malfunctions that may have caused or contributed to serious injury or death?
Answer: FDA Safe Medical Devices Act (MDR regulations, 21 CFR Part 803)
FDA's Medical Device Reporting (MDR) regulations under 21 CFR Part 803 require hospitals (user facilities) to report device-related deaths and serious injuries to the FDA and the manufacturer.
An ASHE-certified healthcare engineer is reviewing the facility's steam sterilizer qualification records. Which document provides evidence that a sterilization cycle consistently achieves the required sterility assurance level (SAL)?
Answer: Biological indicator test logs demonstrating consistent spore kill
Biological indicator (BI) test records using resistant spores (e.g., Geobacillus stearothermophilus) are the definitive evidence of achieved sterility assurance level for steam sterilization cycles.