An alternative approach to hospital electrical safety

In the past, the only acceptable method for protecting hospital patients against the hazards of macroshock and microshock was equipotential grounding: a system whereby potential differences between conductive surfaces are minimized, and ground loops are eliminated, through use of a network of grounding conductors connected in a tree-branch configuration to a common reference point. Experience at a major medical facility involving attempts to create and maintain an equipotential grounding system has proven this method to be costly, impractical, and potentially hazardous. Recent improvements in the input circuitry of medical instrumentation and the rapid disappearance of explosive anesthetics from many hospital inventories now make it possible to suggest an alternative approach to electrical safety: the insulated environment.