Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A WARNING HAS been issued over unauthorised labels on some defibrillator pads which display an incorrect expiry date.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) today said that a number of Defibtech Automated External Defibrillator (AED) pads supplied to the Irish market have been affixed with unauthorised labels.
These unauthorised labels, which the HPRA said were applied outside of Defibtech’s control, provide an incorrect expiry date.
The HPRA warned that this could result in expired AED pads being used after their shelf life.
This in turn could result in a poor electrical connection and reduced energy delivered to a patient.
Defibtech has issued a Field Safety Notice (FSN) to customers highlighting the issue.
The FSN details how to identify an affected AED pad and outlines the actions required to arrange for the removal and exchange of an affected AED pad.
The HPRA has also directly contacted a number of organisations that could be impacted and is urging users to immediately check their AED pads.
The HPRA is the regulatory authority for medical devices in Ireland, and Defibtech is working with it to further investigate the matter and its impact on customers, as well as to assess the total number of pads affected.
It’s understood that the authorised labels on a number of AED electrode pads were removed and an unauthorised label was then applied outside of Defibtech’s control.
This could potentially lead to an expired AED Pad appearing as though it is within the acceptable use range.
The affected AED Pads are for exclusive use with Defibtech AED models and include:
Defibtech and the HPRA are advising customers who have one of the Defibtech AED models listed and have purchased Defibtech AED pads to immediately inspect the product label.
Those with affected products should contact Oxygen Care, Defibtech’s new Irish market distributor, to arrange a return and exchange for an authorised labelled Defibtech AED Pad free of charge.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The govt should have made the redundancy rules effective from midnight of the budget day.
Instead they have created a situation where businesses are financially incentivised to lay staff off, right before Christmas.
The government had to bring these changes in but their method of delivery and implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
Nonsense! Redundancies are going to happen no matter how much the cost to employers! All thats been achieved here is that employees being made redundant are far less likely to get anything more that the minimum statuary payment! Employers will pass this cost on to employees any way they can! I haven’t heard anything from the Unions on this! Maybe that’s because it’s only private sector workers who are affected by this?
Last I heard 2/3 of union members are from the private sector. And yes I know that 2/3 of the workforce(roughly) ate private sector.
Bastards. Any company that thinks it can act like this should not be in business. There should be a name and shame policy for such outlets so that the rest of us can demonstrate just what we think of businesses that have such appallingly low respect for their employees.
The bastards should be boycotted by all of us.
Companies exist to make money that is their sole purpose. Any public company has a legal responsibility to its shareholders to do so. Companies are not charities we need to realise this when we make measures that could do this- when the government suggested this they were told this would happen. The government have a responsibility to the people not companies.
One of the dreary aspects of management attitudes that i discovered when I returned to Ireland was this attitude that local managers and business people had. Word for anyone involved in business in this country, companies exist for much more than simply making money or to serve the narrow interests on their shareholders. Companies have significant responsibilities to their employees, their customs and suppliers and to the communities in which they do business. Ethical companies already understand that. I’m afraid that my experience of much domestic management in Ireland is that they cannot see beyond their own financials. They lack an ethical approach to business and an understanding of what comprises sustainable business practice.
Further proof of the so called jobs budget failing, Labour influence is destroying jobs
What’s destroying jobs is plummeting demand not wages, competitiveness or regulation. Drive workers’ wages down further and demand takes another shock. It really is time that Irish business got its collective head around the truth that if an individual company cuts wages it may benefit in the short term, but if the companies that employ that business’ customers also cuts wages it will lose and lose heavily.
It truly is astonishing to witness the self-defeating short-termism and mé féinism of much of Irish business. Such business people are failing their own businesses as well as the wider economy.
This has happened to me and I’m in complete agreement with it. If rather the company have this extra rebate to try to keep going a bit longer than giving it to a bloated inefficient government to blow.
There is always Australia and Canada, the older boys like myself we know the score ok! It’s time for this generations to realise what kind of bastards are running business in this country!
Not just those running businesses it goes for those running the country as well. Making changes without thinking them through.
Incompetent and uncaring.
Why whenever this subject is discussed is the 60% employer rebate referred to varyingly as a subsidy, government grant etc when it is exactly what it says it is A REBATE! Employers have paid this money into the Social Insurance Fund, week after week, year after year through their Employers PRSI contributions. These new measures are nothing more than theft from already hardpressed employers. The… newly reduced rebate will result in more business closures because in order to fund the redundancy of one employee the employer will now have to use money otherwise set aside for everyday operating costs. BUT by all means let the media continue with their relentless spread of misinformation. It obviously appeals to the masses.
Check out this link from the departments own website https://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/RedundancyandInsolvency/redundancy/Pages/ABriefGuideToTheRedundancyPaymentsScheme.aspx#rebates
Rebates
Employers who pay the statutory redundancy entitlement and give proper notice of redundancy (at least two weeks) are entitled to a 60% Rebate from the Social Insurance Fund, into which they make regular payments themselves through P.R.S.I. contributions. The Redundancy Payments Section of the Department processes applications for these rebates
It really shows the contempt employers have for staff. They’re fodder for profits and when those profits aren’t enough, they get dumped before Christmas in order to get a bigger rebate from the government. The redundancy will probably just scrape in at statutory levels too… And employers will take their sweet time paying it, crapping all over loyal workers a second time.
Shameful.
Employers create jobs and the taxes to fund the state.
Same employers are entitled to no social welfare if their businesses fail
Yet long term social parasites continue to bleed tax payers dry!
Sorry to learn that so many are to be laid off especially at this time of year due to these changes. Most bosses are hardworking decent people so don’t paint them all with the brush of being selfish, making someone redundant is not an easy decision.
Folks as usual there are two sides to every story. Many employers will offer a redundancy package in excess of the statutory amount. The package is in part funded by the 60% that can be claimed back. Reducing the amount that can be claimed back will be reflected in the packages offered to those seeking/being made redundant Letting employees go now means that many will get a better redundancy package now than they would otherwise get in 2012.
My sympathies to anybody laid off, at any time of year let alone Christmas, but I realistically cannot fault a business who brings forward a redundancy by a few months in order to avoid additional costs. Profit margins have to be down this year because nobody is spending money since nobody has any disposable income anymore. I’m inclined to applaud any business that’s still ticking over, more specifically the small-medium enterprises who are struggling in this economic fiasco.
Don’t forget, the Govt offered a similar redundancy/retirement package to offload public servants, which has been well subscribed to simply because it made more financial sense to get out while the getting was good. Nobody criticised nurses/gardai/civil servants for taking early retirement did they? The proviso of course was that they could not be rehired in the same position.
Actually I know of two people being laid off, getting a great redundancy package & being rehired by the same Company in January so that’s another side of it!
This is the result of another bad government decision that was spun to fool people. Oh we will reduce it to stop companies moving to England. Blah blah blah. It was obvious that the reduction will be passed on to those being made redundant. The times of 6-8 weeks pay per year are now gone just when people need the cushion. The governments dishonesty is the most disappointing thing about them. Sack all these useless special advisors.
Fantasy! When did the government say that this policy change was designed to stop companies moving to England. You’re making stuff up. As for the value of redundancy payments, it is untrue to claim that it will drag down redundancy payments. Most workers who are made redundant get barely more than the statutory minimum. That includes many workers in multinational companies, such as those with TalkTalk who were treated abysmally by their employer when it upped sticks with a hefty payoff for the government in redundancy subsidies.
No other country in the EU is this generous towards companies making people redundant. This is a business subsidy that is long past it’s sell-by date.
Important to be aware that if you have been with a company for 2-5 years you are entitled to 2 weeks notice, 5-10 years = 4 weeks, 10-15 = 6 weeks, and over 15 years = 8 weeks.
have your say