history of the temed suckers

• The first step

A number of years ago one of the two Cardiac Surgery Units in Wales experienced an infection control issue and decided to review the way they carried out Cardiac Surgery. One of the changes that they implemented was migrating from using reusable suckers to single patient use sump suckers. The surgeons trialled all the commercially available cardiac suckers and were not happy with efficiency of the products.

The department at the hospital spoke to the principal of TEMED and asked if he could design a more efficient product. 

The patented TEMED Sucker was designed and immediately taken up by all the Cardiac Surgeons in the requesting hospital. Many more hospitals followed in quick succession, to the point where it is used in the majority of units in the UK.

The next step

Having seen the TEMED Sucker a number of paediatric hospitals (pediatric for our American cousins) asked if it was possible to have smaller version made. 

Great Ormond Street Hospital said that they required three sizes. The principle of TEMED said to the team at Great Ormond Street Hospital that if the smallest size was designed properly they would not require the larger sizes. 

The TEMED Mini Sucker was born. When Great Ormond Street Hospital tested the TEMED Mini Sucker they found that it was far more efficient than the product that they had previously used.

For Great Ormond Street Hospital the consequence of the greater efficiency was 

• more fluid was drawn up in a shorter time period than previously 
• less air was drawn up and mixed with the blood therefore potentially reducing the risk of activation
• there was a dramatic reduction in the amount of fluid (blood) which would have been wasted (they were left with 0.5 of a mm whereas they said that previously they would have been left with about 4 mm.

Clinical acceptance 

Many adult cardiac surgery units also started using the TEMED Mini Sucker when they found that it was more efficient than the larger suckers they had been using from other companies.

The size and weight of the TEMED Mini Sucker tip ensures that it is also useful as a surgical sucker in situations where space is restricted such as minimally invasive cases.