Introduction: Blood gas analyzers or Arterial Blood Gas Analyzers (ABGs) are one of the most important equipment in laboratories and points of care (POCs). ABG measures the level of gases and pH in the blood to take critical procedures on patients who are in bad status.
Method: a retrospective study was performed on 4 blood gas analyzers in 4 different locations in the Royal Medical Services Hospitals in Jordan during the period between 2012 and 2016.All maintenance reports were gathered and examined to specify the components that repeatedly deteriorate. Moreover, the advantages of maintaining blood gas analyzer on a regular schedule and according to the manufacturer recommendations were investigated.
Results: During the 5 years period,52 maintenance reports was identified as the reports where the maintaining of the device needed a replacement part. The frequency of failure due to the following parts: electrodes, tube set, and pumps tube were 25, 18, and 17 respectively.
Conclusion: The breakdown period of the blood gas analyzer were reduced significantly due to following the manufacturer guidelines in performing the planned preventive maintenance. The replacement parts needed repeatedly for fixing the devices such as pump tube, electrodes, tube sets and others should be kept in the hospital inventory to reduce the downtime of the equipment.