You'll need to print your ePCR in order to transfer a finalized ePCR to the hospital at the time of patient transfer. While the printers are reliable, technical issues can happen. Here's how to fix issues when they emerge:
Does the Printer Have Power?
Confirm if the printer has power - this will help to determine if this is the power, or if there's other underlying issues.
- Disconnect the USB cable from tablet if connected (very important for troubleshooting). The USB will supply enough power to light up the buttons on the printer but not enough to print.
- Verify that printer has power or shore power – does it has a green light / red light?
- Is the green printer light on, and no lights are flashing? If there are no lights on the printer, it is not receiving power.
- Try turning on the power button on the printer just to be sure. Check that cables are attached – i.e. ensure cable didn’t detach from printer, power brick or outlet.
- Plug something into the outlet (e.g. cellphone charger) and confirm if it has power. If you find there is no power in the outlet, the issue is with the power system in the ambulance. Do the following:
Does the Ambulance Have Power?
- For older model ambulances, the vehicle must be running to supply power to the outlet. Turn on the car to see if this fixes the issuues
- If not, does the ambulance have power?
- Check if the ambulance has power – check whether the car phone has power
- Check the master power switch in the front of the ambulance – must be turned on.
- Check the GFCI and power switch on the invertor in the side power cupboard of the ambulance. Sometimes you need to pull away plugs to see it.
- Once you’ve verified there is power to the printer, you can address printer issues
Issues with Report Printing Quality?
- Is the issue with paper quality? Are you seeing lines or light strips?
- Switch the paper roll and confirm if the issue is still occurring
- Does the printer seemingly print but there is no printed output?
- Verify that the printer paper is installed correctly. One side of the paper can be printed on. The black bas must be facing down.
- Are the perforations not lining up?
- Open and close the printer door
- Does the printer not print despite sending a PCR to the printer?
- Verify the USB cable is plugged into the printer and the Toughbook. If it still doesn’t print, try another USB port on the tablet or another USB cable.
- Plug the tablet into a different known good working printer. If the other printer works, it could be either the printer is non-functional or the power is not sufficient to fully power the printer
- If the issue is with print settings (too dark, extra form feeds), open a ticket with the service desk.
- If the steps above have been tried and it’s still not working open a ticket with the service desk. Use hospital printer or printer from another car.
- General steps to troubleshoot.
- Isolate the problem. Use a known good tablet to confirm if the printer is good or not. Use a known good printer to confirm if the tablet is working correctly.
- If the problem seems sporadic/inconsistent, such as a cable switch which seems to work then no longer works, the problem may be with the ambulance power/invertor and not supplying sufficient clean power.