The Operating Theatre Journal July 2022

Bender install state-of-the-art theatres
at Merlin Park Hospital in Galway
Bender’s unique glass CP9 touchscreen theatre control panels provide
control and monitoring of the operating room equipment through
a central location. Each 24-inch CP9 provides the alarm status of
ventilation, surgical and room lighting and monitors medical IT power
provision for the facilities. This includes a schematic display for the
two operating theatres that can pinpoint the location of any electrical
faults and power issues, and remote monitoring of the medical IT power
(IPS) and uninterruptible power (UPS) installations within the building.
Utilising the CP915 (15” touchscreen) located outside the theatre door,
Bender have developed a clinical information portal that allows staff
to view the status of the theatre before entry, whilst displaying the
in-use status of the room and warning about x-ray and laser activity
in-theatre.
Two new elective orthopaedic theatres at Merlin Park University
Hospital in Galway have been equipped with Bender state-of-the-art
operating theatre equipment, advanced medical IT power systems, and
residual current monitoring devices for ultimate resilience and safety.
Construction of the new €10.57 theatre building in the grounds of Merlin
Park hospital began in March 2021 and was handed over in April 2022.
Varming Consulting engineers acted as M&E Designers and M&E Ancillary
design certifiers under BCAR.
Following a successful tender process, the electrical installation package
was awarded and completed by Limerick-based, H&F Electrical. For the
critical power and theatre clinical package, H&F Electrical secured the
services of Bender Ireland. H&F Project Manager Chris McBrearty said:
“We have used Bender several times on medical projects and their
knowledge, expertise and professionalism made awarding this project
to Bender an easy choice to allow H&F to deliver an extremely high
standard of work for our client.”
The development by HSE West Saolta University Health Care Group
comprises the 620m² theatre building, recovery suite, ancillary
accommodation and plant facilities to support the two theatre suites.
Both theatres are equipped with Merivaara Q-Flow LED surgical lights
and monitor arms, offering best in class illumination, colour rendering
and anti-shadow technology. Q-Flow operating lights incorporate
space between the inner and outer part of the light to allow air to pass
through the light, reducing air turbulence and optimising clean airflow.
This is vital for orthopaedic surgery to reduce the risk of infection.
The lights incorporate 4K cameras linked to 55-inch monitors mounted
on hydraulic arms, and each theatre has dual 42inch vertical customised
Bender PACS displays for viewing patient scans, x-rays and other
medical data.
Within the recovery area, an additional CP915 alarm panel operates
at the nurse station to display a complete architectural layout of the
five bed-bays in the recovery suite. It continually monitors non-critical
power systems, lighting and other infrastructure using Bender residual
current monitoring technology (RCM) and displays alarms that clinical
and technical staff can easily understand and respond to.
RCM identifies potential issues with all TN (grounded) electrical
systems at a pre-critical stage and enables predictive and preventive
maintenance, avoiding power outages. Power quality measuring devices
(PQM) provide data to effectively manage power usage, cut energy
costs and reduce the carbon footprint of medical facilities.
Bender medical IT systems deliver no-fail power supplies to the
operating theatres and incorporate ATICS auto-changeover technology
with a second source of power supply to the operating rooms. ATICS is
purpose-designed for medical applications with patient safety at the
core of its development. The system assures total resilience for the
medical IT systems and 2 x 60KVA UPS with full HTM compliant battery
backup systems.
RCM and PQM devices deliver extensive data on the TN network, and
along with all of the medical IPS and UPS equipment are connected
to Bender’s POWERSCOUT® reporting software. That provides realtime
remote monitoring and gives hospital engineers an accurate
representation of the electrical infrastructure. POWERSCOUT® enables
facilities managers to track and manage energy use more effectively
and analyse power system performance from different areas of the
facility. Importantly, the automated report on residual current and
power quality forms the basis for verifying the integrity of the system
without switch-off, which negates the burden of periodic inspection
and testing.
Chris Simmons, Country Manager for Bender Ireland, explains: “The
installation at Merlin Park is instrumental in continuously developing
capability for assisting healthcare projects in Ireland. Bender Ireland
is now one of the few companies with the knowledge and expertise to
supply and deliver a full turnkey theatre package, and this project has
been fully delivered by our local experts in Ireland.
“Merlin Park represents the next step for operating theatre technology
and the highest level resilient power in medical facilities. Clinical staff
can access the latest technology and record and stream operations in
real-time.
6 THE OPERATING THEATRE JOURNAL www.otjonline.com