In Reply:—Ohmeda wishes to take this opportunity to respond to the letter from Farmer and Zelman. The authors describe a rare and unusual occurrence with the power cord connection on an Ohmeda TEC 6 vaporizer.
The connector and receptacle conform to IEC standards and are constructed from UL listed VO materials that do not support combustion when the source of ignition is removed. This is consistent with the two reports of this occurrence, when the presence of an odor and some smoke was reported, but no fire was observed.
The power cord connector and receptacle have been configured such that, after proper insertion of the connector, movement of the power cord will not affect the integrity of the connector to the receptacle connection. Further, Ohmeda believes that performing a preoperative checkout procedure that includes a physical inspection of the equipment, such as found in the operating and maintenance manual for the Ohmeda anesthesia systems or available from the FDAs, will help identify this condition.
For additional information, please contact the local Ohmeda representative or contact Ohmeda, in Madison, Wisconsin, at 608–221- 1551.
Graham B. Lukey, Quality Engineering Manager, Ohmeda Inc., Ohmeda Drive, P.O. Box 7550, Madison, Wisconsin 53707–7550.
(Accepted for publication January 23, 1995.)
