Communications between the nursing attendant inside the chamber and the medical staff outside is a priority. The previous communications system had its limitations and was recently damaged as a result of the external fire sprinklers flooding the unit. In consultation with Fink Engineering the Clear-Com FreeSpeak digital wireless system was recommended.
"The metal is inches thick and you cannot hear anything so if you don't have a good communications system you're really in strife," remarked Sharon Peut, nurse manager at the Centre. "Patients can have seizures or cardiac arrests in the chamber and you need someone to help in a hurry. If we have a fire, that's a major issue and you need someone to bring you up straightaway - that's why it's so important to have a good communications system."
FreeSpeak is a digital wireless intercom system based on a cellular architecture that offers license-free communication and can allow up to 20 beltpacks to roam seamlessly between remote active antennas.
"The Clear-Com FreeSpeak system has been wonderful!" stated Peut. "Our old system would regularly die on us and we'd have to press the comms-fail button on the chamber, but that's not an issue anymore. We've found the battery life is very good too which is very important to us. The speech is also much clearer in fact, when we first trialled the new headsets we had to turn the volume down quite a bit as it was so much clearer than the old set."
(Jim Evans)
