Emergency Guidelines - Information for natural disasters, fire and water damage.

Please review the following guide on what you should do in case of emergency such as natural disasters.  These include: hurricanes, flooding, tornados, earthquakes, lightning strikes, electrical surges and other manmade disasters.

Here are some safety recommendations we urge our users to follow.

1. Before the event- It important to ensure the safety of all, and use extreme caution.
 

For any event such as severe weather, Hurricane that advanced notice is given - be sure to unplug your device, before you leave your office we suggest (when possible) to turn main breaker off to your facility. This ensures in the event of returning to your office; first responders or other  persons entering the facility do not enter into a possibly dangerous conditions such as electrified flood waters and so on when returning to the facility.

Incase of construction work or other man made condition; power outages or brown outs- can occur by accident or due to construction/repair needs turn off the device and unplug from the wall. We recommend turning off the main breaker as needed until such time the condition is over and normal operation can resume. This will protect the unit in case of surges, cut lines by accident and so on.

2. During the event- It important to ensure the safety of all, and use extreme caution. 

During active storms or other emergency situations -When possible to do such safely, during inclement severe weather, hurricane or other event - please take the following steps. You will want to be sure your device is turned off and unplugged from the wall. When possible we recommend turning the main facility breakers off before leaving or evacuating. This ensures in the event of returning to your office; first responders or other  persons entering the facility do not enter into a possibly dangerous conditions such as electrified flood waters and so on when returning to the facility.

During rolling black outs / brown outs -  turn off your device and unplug from the wall; we also recommend when possible to turn off the main breaker as needed. These types of conditions can cause amperage/voltage spikes, swells and swags which can damage electrical equipment. We recommend keeping your equipment turned off and disconnected from power until the condition is over when possible. 

3. After the Storm or event - It important to ensure the safety of all, and use extreme caution - there might be unseen hazards, conditions or other remaining active situations your not aware of.

After inclement weather, hurricane or natural disaster - It is important not to return until any threat advisories have been lifted, and local authorities have given the 'all clear'. Please use extreme caution when returning to your facility, be mindful that down power lines, short circuit or high waters can cause electrical surges and electrocute. It is always best to wait for any flood waters to recede BEFORE re-entering the facility in case of flooding. We do recommend that if you are flooded or fire to take photos as you might need them for insurance claims, disaster recovery, FEMA etc.. 

This also applies in case of fire and wind damage that might occurred causing the flood; or other condition - be sure to take clear photos, record dates and times, any weather alerts or other documents to help support the event timing.

 

Important Recommendations:

It is HIGHLY recommended to add your equiptment to your insurance policy for full value of the machine, or have full unbrella coverage. Some policies also can include mechanical break down coverages for those non -covered events should the policy not extend to your specific issue.

Also in some cases where financing of equiptment is typically a requirement of the finance company to carry insurance coverage to protect the equiptment should an event occur. It is the sole responcibly of the owner/practicioner to carry the appropriate insurance to cover in the event of any financial loss or non-covered event as outlined in the Warranty Terms and conditions.
 

In case of Flood: Do not turn your device on, even after the water has receded. It is possible remaining water and / or moisture is in the unit.

Keep it unplugged and take images of flooding; including any water touching the unit, water lines or dipping water from the unit in case insurance needs to be claimed. Vatech will assist with inspection and final determination. If the device should be continued to be used would be at user risk.

Call an authorized dealer to the site to inspect the unit with Vatech, to verify if there was water touching or inside the device.

It is recommended that you wait at least 1 week to ensure all components have dried out before re-applying power to the device.
 

In case of electrical surge: Including electrical storms and surges - Do not turn your device on, Keep it unplugged Call an authorized dealer to the site to inspect the unit with Vatech. Please have any information from electrician on hand in case needed.

In case of tornado, fire or earthquake damage: In the event your unit is directly affected by fire or earthquake damages, do not turn your device on and keep it unplugged from the wall. Take photos of all damage in and around the facility include any direct damages to the unit.

For all of the above - It is important that you Contact your insurance company right away to file a claim, the longer you wait to harder it will be as most insurance companies to determine fault of the event.

Your dealer and Vatech America will assist in any way we can to guide you through this process however any device that is deemed 'non repairable' will have limited support due to the uncertainty of long term damages, control of Xray Dose to patient control or other regulatory requirements for user and saftey saftey & liability.