(ASTM: West Conshohocken, PA) -- A proposed new standard being developed by ASTM International Committee F30 on emergency medical services will be useful to medical equipment manufacturers, certification agencies, and care providers, with patients being the ultimate beneficiaries.

The proposed new standard, ASTM WK27973—“Specification for Environmental Performance of Medical Equipment for Use on Fixed and Rotary-Wing Aircraft,” is being developed by Subcommittee F30.01 on EMS Equipment.

ASTM WK27973 addresses two primary areas: the effect of medical equipment on aircraft and the effect of the aviation environment on medical equipment. Khalid Barazanji, a committee member and the chief of the Airworthinesss Certification and Evaluation Branch of the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, says the proposed standard will help manufacturers to design safe medical equipment for the aeromedical environment; certification agencies will be able to recognize and adopt the standard and encourage its use.

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