The year 1999 transition problem pair
More on devices that had confirmed problems
The following information on these devices was provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Rockville, MD.
1. Hewlett-Packard 43100A/43200A external defibrillator.
The product will defibrillate properly but will print out "set clock" rather than the month, day, hour, and minute on the paper event record. On trying to reset the clock, the CRT will display a 1985 date.
The manufacturer advises to reset it to 1998 (not 1999), after which the unit will work properly for the year 1999. (The event record does not print the year — only the month, day, hour, and minute.) At the end of 1999, it will need to be reset again, from 1998 to 2000, after which it should work properly.
2. Invivo’s Millennium 3500 multiparameter patient monitor.
This monitor has a potential New Year’s Eve problem for every year including both 1998 and 1999. For products manufactured before December 1998, if the display clock is tested or reset as the year turns over, then the display and internal clocks become asynchronous until the product is powered down and restarted.
The display clock and paper record can then show different times and dates. Products manufactured after December 1998 are not affected, according to the manufacturer.
The manufacturer advises the problem will not occur if the clock is neither tested nor reset on Dec. 31, 1999-Jan. 1, 2000. Invivo has a software upgrade available to customers that can fix the problem.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content