Circulation 60,475 • Volume 14, No. 2 • Summer 1999

Medical Gas Safety Group Meets About Testers’ Credentials

Ervin Moss, M.D.; Corky Bishop, P.E.

The Medical Gas Professional Healthcare Organization (MGPHO) met in Las Vegas on May 14, 1999. Fifty members were in attendance. The MGPHO was established to satisfy the need for a methodology of credentialing those who have the responsibility of verifying medical gas systems.

The MGPHO has the following statement of purpose: "The MGPHO is an association of medical gas professionals actively engaged in all aspects of medical and vacuum systems in healthcare applications. This organization of medical gas professionals in healthcare is committed to the safety, quality, and integrity of medical gas systems through education and development of our professional qualifications and technical expertise. Our mission is to assure the healthcare facility and personnel safer and reliable medical gas and vacuum systems."

In a past series of articles in the APSF Newsletter on "Medical Gas and Vacuum Systems," it was stated that the verifiers of medical gas systems were not credentialed by any recognized national organization to perform their vital services. A corporate member of the APSF, Mr. Fred Evans of Medical Gas Management, encouraged the formation of the MGPHO and hosted the first two meetings in Bethany, Oklahoma.

The need for an organization to set standards and credentialing criteria was recognized by the medical gas industry as a means to lend credibility to their industry and to recruit reputable companies anxious to contribute their time and expertise to improve patient safety.

At the May meeting, a credentials committee was established. Its purpose will be to provide qualification requirements for medical gas verifiers.

The goal is to credential MGPHO-qualified verifiers, thus assuring professional competency to facilities in need of their services. This could become a standard requirement in engineering specifications and may be included as a requirement in the construction bidding process.

The MGPHO plans to have a webpage also.

Dr. Moss, an APSF Director and long an activist concerning the safety of piped medical gasses, is Executive Medical Director of the New Jersey State Society of Anesthesiologists. Mr. Bishop is with Medical Gas Management, Bethany, Oklahoma.