Lean from International Civil Aviation

Urgent spares for medical equipment:

It is now acknowledged that the medical profession has borrowed procedures from the aviation industry, such as the use of checklists, pre and post surgery briefings, leadership, identifying and mitigating threats, preventing errors and Operating Room Management (ORM) to name a few.

In international civil aviation if an aircraft is grounded due to a shortage of a spare part, the usual procedure consists of importing that particular spare on an ‘Aircraft on Ground ‘(AOG) basis. All departments including the Customs bend backwards to prioritise and facilitate the speedy clearance of that piece of equipment to get the aircraft airborne as delays are expensive to the aviation industry.  The spare part is prominently tagged with a bright eye-catching label.

We hear that many life- saving CT and MRI scan machines in district hospitals are unserviceable due to the want of spares. Could we not have a scheme similar to AOG to facilitate and import these spares on a ‘Top Urgent Medical Spares’ (TUMS) basis? (My acronym) Even the Customs could act first and complete their paperwork later.

A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Unfortunately, when it comes to importation of spares even for domestic aviation, S L Customs seems to be the weakest link.

Let us learn from each other, without being in our own silos, as it were.

GUWAN SEEYA