For more than a century, Monongahela Valley Hospital (MVH) has served Pennsylvania’s mid-Monongahela Valley with an emphasis on quality care and compassionate caring. The 226-bed, full-service health care facility maintains a staff of more than 1,000, making it the largest employer in the valley. The hospital remains steadfast in its commitment to meeting the needs of not only its employees, but also the thousands of patients that visit annually. 
As part of a large renovation at MVH, one of the hospital’s laboratories relocated to a new facility. The project’s architects took full advantage of this opportunity to upgrade the lab’s safety equipment to ensure the safety of the hospital staff. They wanted reliable products that worked on several levels – efficiency, innovation, compact size and ease of use – while also meeting stringent OSHA and ANSI standards.
After evaluating the scope of emergency products on the market, both the Haws® AXION® MSR eye/face wash and AXION MSR combination eye/face wash and shower proved ideal. As leading safety products, they fell perfectly in line with the hospital’s commitment to quality and staff/patient satisfaction. A revolutionary inverted flow design makes the AXION MSR eye/face wash the only product on the market consistent with EMT and emergency room protocols, while the combination eye/face wash and shower offers a hydrodynamic design with regulated water flow that ensures maximum effectiveness in an emergency situation. Integral flow controls and easy activation are additional standout features.
In selecting the Haws products, MVH offers a response that concentrates on victim comfort while exceeding the ANSI Z358.1 standard requirements. “The units work well,” and staff has found them “easy to start, especially… in a hurry,” says MVH Laboratory Supervisor, Betty Ritzer. The eye/face wash has been used once, with very positive feedback, and Ritzer’s weekly maintenance checks have her sold on the safety equipment’s quality. AXION’s ground-breaking technology continues to change the emergency response landscape by offering the only eye/face wash duplicating the methodology recommended and used by medical professionals. The AXION MSR eye/face wash and shower provide superior safety technology for use in labs, schools and healthcare offices and are available in a variety of configurations and install options. All AXION MSR products are certified by CSA to meet ANSI Z358.1.
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Safety Tip: Product SuitabilityIs your facility in need for new emergency equipment? Before investing the time and money in buying new equipment, it is critical that the correct product is sought after. Perhaps you work at a chemical plant and the risk of hazardous chemicals to be splashed in the facial area is high. The best solution in this case is an eye/face wash rather than just an eyewash that will only cleanse the eyes and not the face as well. Chemical reach may not only harm the eye area, which is why an eye/face wash is the best solution.
Once you have identified the proper type of equipment to invest in, refer to the ANSI Z358.1 standard for training, testing, installation, maintenance, location, and use. Here is a quick reference guide to what is expected out of each category of emergency equipment:
- Eyewash: Efficient to injuries affecting only the eyes. Must have a simultaneous, uninterrupted, and controlled flow to both eyes.
- Eye/face wash: Risk of injuries include the entire face as well as eyes. Must have a large enough dispensation of water to reach both the eyes and face.
- Emergency shower: Used when a greater area of the body is at risk of injury. Water must cover a larger portion of the body and can also be used simultaneously with an eye wash or eye/face wash.
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