Posts Tagged ‘food pump’

John’s Troubleshooting Tip of the Month: Food Pump Series- Part 3 No Flow Alarm

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

PHS understands how stressful it can be when a piece of equipment isn’t working properly, and we want to help resolve any issues as soon as possible for you. So, once a month, PHS Respiratory Therapist, John Sheahan posts a tip on how to troubleshoot a common error with a piece of equipment.

Continuing in our series of food pump troubleshooting tips this month we will discuss ‘No Flow In’ and ‘No Flow Out’ alarm messages on the Infinity Orange and Teal pumps.

The first thing we need to understand is what each of these alarms is really saying.

  • A No Flow In alarm is telling us that formula or breast milk is not moving easily between the feeding bag and the food pump.
  • A No Flow Out alarm is telling us that formula or breast milk is not moving easily between the food pump and the child’s stomach.

If you get a No Flow In alarm do the following:

  • Straighten out twists or bends in the feeding bag tubing.
  • Empty formula or breast milk from feeding bag into clean container.
    • Flush feeding bag and feeding bag tubing with warm water.
    • Pour formula or breast milk back into feeding bag.
    • Remove air from feeding bag and feeding bag tubing.
  • Remove plastic unit and clean the three sensors using cotton swab and water.
  • Replace feeding bag with new one if needed.

If you get a No Flow Out alarm do the following:

  • Straighten out twists or bends in the feeding bag tubing.
  • Empty formula or breast milk from feeding bag into clean container.
    • Flush feeding bag and feeding bag tubing with warm water.
    • Pour formula or breast milk back into feeding bag.
    • Remove air from feeding bag and feeding bag tubing.
  • Remove plastic unit and clean the three sensors using cotton swab and water.
  • Use syringe to flush child’s feeding tube with warm water to be sure feeding tube is not clogged.
  • Replace feeding bag with new one if needed.

NOTE: If there is a clamp on the G-tube be sure to open first and try to resume feeding.

John Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRTJohn Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRT is a Licensed Respiratory Therapist at PHS and would love to hear from you if you have a tip that you’ve found helps when working with your equipment, or have an idea for a Troubleshooting Tip post. Share your tip or idea through a comment here or an email to John at jcsheahan@pediatrichomeservice.com.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Other Posts, Troubleshooting tip of the month | View Comments

John’s Troubleshooting Tip of the Month: Food Pump Series- Part 2 Replacing the door

Monday, November 7th, 2011

PHS understands how stressful it can be when a piece of equipment isn’t working properly, and we want to help resolve any issues as soon as possible for you. So, once a month, PHS Respiratory Therapist, John Sheahan will post a tip on how to troubleshoot a common error with a piece of equipment.

Today’s post is the second in a series that focuses on food pumps. We frequently receive calls from families for troubleshooting the food pump. In this second segment we will focus on what to do if the Infinity food pump door breaks.

There are two types of Infinity food pumps, the Infinity Teal and the Infinity Orange, and both have the potential of the door latch that connects to the pumps inside holder breaking. To prevent this from happening always press the latch in with your thumb before opening and closing the food pump door. If the door latch does break however follow these steps:

  • Close the Infinity food pump door and secure it tightly with either a hair band or a rubber band.
  • The food pump will run as long as the food pump door is closed tightly.
  • Call PHS at 651-642-1825 and report the problem. We will send you a replacement door.
  • When you receive the new door:
    • Open the broken food pump door away from the food pumps main body.
    • Firmly hold pump and door in BOTH hands.
    • Quickly snap the door away from pump.
    • Replace with new door by inserting the replacement food pump door latch into the inside holder.
    • Gently snap door into place.
    • Do NOT force the door closed.

See the graphic below for a visual on how to remove and attach a door. For even more help with your EntraLite® Infinity food pump watch this video from PHS IV nurse Gail as she walks you through common errors with the pump and how to solve them.

entralite, inifinty, phs, pediatric home service, food pump, door change, broken door,

John Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRTJohn Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRT is a Licensed Respiratory Therapist at PHS and would love to hear from you if you have a tip that you’ve found helps when working with your equipment, or have an idea for a Troubleshooting Tip post. Share your tip or idea through a comment here or an email to John at jcsheahan@pediatrichomeservice.com.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Other Posts | View Comments

Behind the scenes at the PHS Private Duty Nursing shoot

Friday, October 21st, 2011

Now that we have been running with our Private Duty Nursing Service (PDNS) for almost a year, we decided it was time to get out in the home of one of our PDNS families and see just how we are doing. The response was fantastic and we had a great day of shooting with Audra, twins JoeVon and JoVonna, both PHS patients and PHS clinicians, Mary- Infusion Nurse, Jade- PDNS Preceptor and Ashley and Courtney- JoeVon’s PDNS Field Nurses. In addition to shooting out at a patients home, we wanted to hear from the PHS PDNS staff as well, so we spent some time interviewing our own staff on just how the service was progressing.

As we work to pull together the video that was shot that day, we thought it might be fun to give you all a little behind-the-scenes look at the chaos,the fun and heartwarming time that we had on our day of shooting. I hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

You can also check out some of the photos from the day at out facebook page here.

Are you a patient with PHS PDNS? We’d love to hear ow everything is going for you!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Other Posts, Pediatric Home Service news | View Comments

John’s Troubleshooting Tip of the Month: Food Pump Series- Part 1

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

PHS understands how stressful it can be when a piece of equipment isn’t working properly, and we want to help resolve any issues as soon as possible for you. So, once a month, PHS Respiratory Therapist, John Sheahan will post a tip on how to troubleshoot a common error with a piece of equipment.

Today’s post is the first in a series that will focus on food pumps. We frequently receive calls from families for troubleshooting the food pump. In this first segment we will focus on blending the formula and priming your feeding bag.

Formula

If you have a powdered formula it is best to mix it well in a blender.   This is to make sure all of the powdered formula granules, that can cause alarms, are well dissolved. Watch a video from PHS Dietitian Gwen, on how to properly mix your formula to avoid granules here.

At PHS we recommend mixing powdered formula with cold water unless the formula manufacturer instructions recommend using a different temperature.

After blending, formula may be frothy, so let it sit for 15 minutes.

Pour breast milk or formula into feeding bag and remove air from filled feeding bag by gently pushing down until fluid rises into neck of bag, as pictured above. Replace cap before lifting bag. Note: some feeding bags may different than the one pictured.

Priming feeding bag and tubing

If you are using an EnteraLite Infinity food pump (orange or teal) you will have to prime the feeding bag tubing by completing the following steps.

Push in latch and open Food Pump door.

Hook U-shaped tubing around pump wheel. Gently stretch plastic unit away from pump wheel and press down into place.

Push in latch and close Food Pump door completely

Hold down ON/OFF keypad button until Food Pump beeps and turns ON. Food Pump then does a self-check.

The word RATE and a number will show in display window when Food Pump finishes self-check.

Remove cover from Feeding Bag Adapter at end of Feeding Bag Tubing. Place Feeding Bag Adapter into clean container.

Hold Feeding Bag upside down. At the same time, hold down PRIME keypad button until Formula or Breast Milk comes out of Feeding Bag Adapter. NOTE! PRIME button MUST be held down during the entire priming process.

Replace cover on end of Feeding Bag Adapter.

John Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRTJohn Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRT is a Licensed Respiratory Therapist at PHS and would love to hear from you if you have a tip that you’ve found helps when working with your equipment, or have an idea for a Troubleshooting Tip post. Share your tip or idea through a comment here or an email to John at jcsheahan@pediatrichomeservice.com.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Other Posts, Troubleshooting tip of the month | View Comments

John’s Troubleshooting Tip of the Month: Bi-Annual Battery Charging

Monday, June 6th, 2011

It’s Summer—or so we hope.

The weather has been unpredictable at best. With more storms and power outages sure to come it’s a good time to check the battery life of your equipment. Twice a year you are responsible for making sure all battery units can last the required time needed to run a piece of equipment. As each piece of equipment will vary be sure to check your PHS manual to find out how long each piece of equipment should last.

interacter, battery, charger, recharge

BEFORE recharging ANY battery make sure:

  • Always check the weather report before doing any battery rundowns.
  • Batter case is placed in a well ventilated area and is as far from the battery charger as possible.
  • Battery charger and case are on a stable surface so it cannot tip over.

As always, if you ever have questions about your equipment or  troubleshooting tips don’t hesitate to contact your PHS Respiratory Therapist at 651-642-1825.

John Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRTJohn Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRT is a Licensed Respiratory Therapist at PHS and would love to hear from you if you have a tip that you’ve found helps when working with your equipment, or have an idea for a Troubleshooting Tip post. Share your tip or idea through a comment here or an email to John at jcsheahan@pediatrichomeservice.com.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Troubleshooting tip of the month | View Comments

Cost Effective Corner- tips from John Sheahan

Monday, January 10th, 2011

Please take a minute to think about the way you currently use medical supplies, and how you can safely adapt your use to optimize insurance dollars. PHS is commonly asked, “How much will my insurance cover?” We’d like you to adjust your thinking to “how much does my child need?” We’re taking a look at common supply items, which can be safely cleaned and reused – in an effort to reduce wasteful spending. We encourage you to think about the item below and discuss with your child’s professional caregivers. Refer to the Infection Prevention are of your PHS education or contact you child’s primary clinician if you have any questions.

infinity feeding bag, reuseable supplies, washing supplies, insurance dollar savings

sample feeding bag

Feeding Bags & Feeding Extension Sets

Feeding Bag Between feedings:

  1. Rinse feeding bag completely with hot water.
  2. Rinse feeding bag completely with cold water.
  3. Store feeding bag in the refrigerator in a resealable bag.

NOTE! You may use feeding bag until it does NOT work.

Syringe (used for feeding and delivering medication into feeding tube) Feeding Extension and Medication/Extension Sets

  1. Take supply apart.
  2. Wash supply in mixture of warm water and standard dish soap.
  3. Rinse supply completely in hot water.
  4. Allow supply to air dry completely.

NOTE! You may use supply until it is cracked, worn or does NOT work.

John Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRTJohn Sheahan, RRT-NPS, LRT is a Licensed Respiratory Therapist at PHS and would love to hear from you if you have a tip that you’ve found helps save insurance dollars, or have an idea for a Cost Effective Corner post. Share your tip or idea through a comment here or an email to John at jcsheahan@pediatrichomeservice.com.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Cost-effective corner | View Comments

Protecting home medical equipment from summer storm power outages

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Lightning, thunder, dark skies and sirens during summer storms are upsetting. Yet power outages from thunderstorms and tornadoes can be very dangerous for kids who depend on home health care equipment.

When storms hit, children may become upset and clingy. You may become anxious at the possibility of losing power for your child’s medical equipment.

Be prepared to weather summer storms

Here are some steps you can take now to keep your children calm during storms, and to weather power outages without interrupting your child’s home health care equipment and its functions.

How to calm kids during summer storms

  • Stay near children during the storm, comforting them and getting their minds off the storm with games, stories, snacks, books and songs
  • Keep flashlights and batteries handy
  • Be attentive, but not glued to news sources about approaching weather; Avoid having children listen to or watch weather coverage nonstop
  • Tornado watch or warning? Go to a basement, windowless room or storm shelter with:
    • Essential medical equipment and supplies
    • Backup batteries
    • Flashlight and batteries
    • Battery-operated radio

Emergency backup plans for kids’ home care equipment

PHS helps families prepare emergency backup plans for their child’s overall care, which includes arrangements for generators, batteries or transport to a medical facility. Special considerations:

  • Respiratory needs: Many pieces of equipment require constant supply of electricity; Have alternative sources of power available such as extra, fully-charged batteries or a generator.
  • IV and pharmacy needs: Medicines often require refrigeration, so when power goes out, refrigerators stop running. Keep a cooler and ice on hand to keep medication properly chilled.
    • Curlin pumps: Use C-cell batteries to keep the pump running. Keep a supply of extra, fully-charged batteries on hand.
  • Food pump and formula needs: When a food pump is not in use, PHS recommends charging it so it is fully charged in case of a power outage. If power is lost and your food pump does not have a charged battery, you may use a gravity bag. If you are uncertain how to use a gravity bag, contact PHS.
    • Keep mixed formulas in a refrigerator when the power goes out until the refrigerator can no longer keep items cold. If the refrigerator cannot keep formula cold during a power outage, discard the formula and mix smaller amounts as needed.

How do you keep your children calm during storms? What’s your backup plan for medical equipment in case of a power outage? Do you have tips to prepare for severe weather and its impact?

We’d love to hear from you.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Help for parents caring for sick kids | View Comments