With the mobile battery cart becoming an increasingly familiar sight in healthcare facilities, they must function for as long as possible. Medical professionals rely on them for everything from improving emergency response times to safer patient data protection.
A medical professional taking a cart off a ward for several hours to recharge is not just an inconvenience; it could seriously affect patient safety.
Hot-swap mobile cart batteries are part of revolutionary technology that enable professionals to keep their mobile medical carts on the ward.
What is a Hot-Swap Battery
Some standard batteries still need to be plugged into a wall socket to be recharged. At Scott-Clark Medical, we use our patented Flexible Mobile Cart Power Technology (FMCPT) to make reenergizing a battery more efficient. Instead of taking a cart off the ward, potentially endangering patient care, users can recharge our batteries while they are still in the unit.
Our hot-swap system means that a user can insert a fully charged battery into the cart to replace one that is low on charge. Our method doesn’t require any technical knowledge or need an IT professional to change the battery.
The user of the cart, who is almost certainly a medical professional and not IT trained, can charge the battery in approximately 30 seconds. The cart is still in use, and no additional staff resources are required to keep the cart in operation.
Battery Charging
Mobile medical carts are virtually always in use due to their versatility and their contribution to a healthcare environment. It is essential the batteries can be changed when the cart is still in use.
When the battery powering the mobile cart is running low, there will be a visual cue to show the user they need to replace it. There will also be an audible sound to ensure the user is fully aware they need to take action.
The professional in charge of the cart can then use the hot-swap system to take the charging battery from the rear of the cart, and insert it into the power source for the unit. Each battery is capable of running for 10-12 hours.
Although this seems like a remarkably long time, the battery itself only takes around 2½ hours to charge. There is little chance of the cart ever being without power when the user keeps the second battery fully charged.
Standard batteries have a lifespan of approximately 8-10 months. Batteries requiring disposal so quickly are expensive and environmentally unfriendly. At Scott-Clark Medical, we use batteries that last 5 times longer than standard ones. We are so confident in our quality batteries that they come with a 5-year full warranty.
Technology
For a cart to stay operational for so long, it is imperative to use state of the art techniques. Our FMCPT batteries use iron phosphate lithium-ion batteries, as opposed to standard lithium-ion batteries.
A lithium iron phosphate battery contains 72 cells. Each cell provides 320-watts of power. While a standard lithium-ion battery lasts for approximately 1,200 cycles, an FMCPT battery will last for around 4,000-5,000 cycles.
Safety Features
Our BCS system continually monitors the mobile medical cart for safety. Should a battery need a charge, it intelligently diverts power to ensure optimal use of the available energy. If the system detects a situation which could affect the safety of users, it immediately shuts down the entire unit.
The Takeaway
Mobile carts are an integral part of medical care today. The batteries provide the power that ensures they can perform. Our hot-swap technology keeps mobile carts operational for as long as medical professionals need for their duties.