Recent archeological digs in Roman ruins have discovered quite a dilemma when the calendars were switched from B.C. to A.D. some 2,000 years ago. A letter from Brutus to Julius Caesar showed the real quagmire. Like our Y2K problem, theirs was known as Y0K.
Dear Julius:
Your change from B.C. to A.D. is giving us untold headaches. There is not much time left before the year zero and you would think someone would of thought of this earlier and not left us with such little time to work the bugs out. In the meantime, we are planning for some disruptions when the switchover occurs. There are great fears that horses will start running backward, causing damage to chariots. Others predict the sand in the hourglass will flow upward instead of down and gladiators in the Colosseum will stop fighting and shake hands. We can only hope Zeus intervenes.
Brutus
Although the Roman letter is a parody, a real problem will exist when the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, 2000. So important is this topic that the U.S. Senate appointed a special committee to look into it.
On March 2, 1999, the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 released its report, which disclosed concerns about how the Y2K issue will impact the nation. A section of the report centers on how the Y2K issue will affect 911 systems as well as medical and emergency services. The report indicated that 90 percent of physicians' offices are unaware of their Y2K impact and many hospitals in the U.S. lack the financial resources or expertise to address Y2K concerns.
The Senate Committee report said, "Of greatest concern to the Committee is the ability of local communities to provide 911 and emergency services." Further, the Committee also said emergency services should expect "an enormous increase in the demand for their services depending on the degree of disruption." Members also expressed concern that terrorist groups may take advantage of any confusion which occurs at midnight Jan. 1, 2000.
While the Senate Committee concluded the Y2K will not mean the end of the world, it "concluded the Y2K problem is very real and that Y2K risk-management efforts must be increased to avert serious disruptions."
With six months and counting, is Jan. 1, 2000, going to be a doomsday for those who provide emergency medical services? The general consensus is no, but then again who really knows until it happens. So the question in front of us is this: Has your service done anything to prepare for the witching hour of midnight Jan. 1, 2000?
Law firms have already put together groups of attorneys to prepare for litigation for organizations that fail to address the issue. In essence, their contention is that Y2K has been a known problem for years, and if your service failed to address it, did your service fail to act? Commit a breach of duty? And did it directly lead to an adverse reaction to a patient?
Among the equipment that can be affected by the Y2K issue are pagers, portable radios, monitor/defibrillators, AEDs, IV infusion pumps, pulse oximeters, vehicle computers, computer-aided dispatching systems, telephone systems, telemetry consoles, training and vehicle maintenance software, traffic-control lights, communications-data recorders, ambulances, doorlocks and security controls, cellular telephones and computer networks.
What should you be doing? First, inventory all the possible equipment that is date sensitive. Your inventory master list should include what has been inventoried - location, model, serial number; vendor name, address and telephone number, and whether it must be tested?. Next, assess the equipment that is date sensitive. Can the manufacturer supply you with a certificate of Y2K compliance?
Make sure you get all Y2K-compliance statements in writing. Even then, you need to be careful. In my own department, from a certificate of compliance issued by a monitor/defibrillator manufacturer, it initially looked like the St. Louis Fire Department was compliant on monitor/ defibrillators. However, the fine print specified only those monitor/defibrillators with a serial number above a certain number. Our monitor/defibrillator serial numbers fell below that specified number. Therefore, they were not Y2K compliant and will need software modifications to bring them into compliance.
Next, there should be a determination plan for each device affected by software. Should you fix, scrap or replace non-compliant software? Then, you should test any device that is date sensitive. It is recommended that testing include three tests: one that occurs in 1999 with supplemental information added in the year 2000; one that occurs in 1999 and rolls past midnight into the year 2000; and one that starts and finishes in the year 2000.
Make sure you have your documentation of testing or certification of Y2K compliance from manufacturers. No doubt, the lawyers are waiting in the wings for the clock to strike midnight.
Help can be found on the following websites:
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/yr2000 - U.S. Fire Administration (USFA)
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/y2k - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
http://www.fema.gov/y2k
