Hospitals should begin removing certain interpower power cords from service

Some power cords manufactured by Interpower Corporation may be susceptible to failure in the healthcare setting, posing a risk of shocks, burns, fires, or device failures. We believe hospitals should remove these cords-which are supplied with equipment from a variety of medical device manufacturers-from service. The removal process should not take place all at once, but should be carried out over time, making sure that the process does not impede patient care. We published a similar report on power cords from Electri-Cord Manufacturing in our December 2009 issue. The problem related to the Interpower cords is the same, and our recommendations are basically identical.