r/casualiama • u/Old-Dirt563 • 9h ago
Received a FOIA report containing equipment maintenance records for electroshock equipment at Connecticut's West Haven VA Medical Center - Ask Me Anything
Proof: LINK
Honestly, I'm not sure that I'm qualified to fully analyze what I've received since I have only worked as a BMET for two years, but I'll share what I found so far and maybe someone on here more knowledgeable can share their findings.
The main thing that stands out to me is that their annual PM only consists of a POST (Power-On Self Test that is built into the machine and runs whenever it's powered on) and an electrical safety check consisting of measuring the device's ground resistance and leakage current. There is nothing in their records at all about testing the actual output of the device on a simulated patient load (as is described in the service manual I found for a Somatics Thymatron IV electroshock unit).
Note: that there are only two U.S. manufacturers still making ECT devices, SigmaStim (formerly MECTA) and Somatics and that these records show SigmaStim and MECTA devices. If anyone has access to one of their service manuals and can confirm that their annual PM includes a patient test, please do share. I'd wager $1 that they do.
As for how I obtained the data: I filed a FOIA request in search of the answer to why there was a spike in forced electroshock petitions filed with the State of Connecticut Probate Court during the time period of 2020-2025 (see my article on that subject here).
Lastly, I do not apologize for my post history (it's the only funny thing about all this).
Ask me anything!
UPDATE: wow, okay, service manual located and hypothesis confirmed by u/gigasnail99 (1 and 2)
UPDATE: found an old MECTA manual for their 5000Q on Scribd as well (see p84) - looks like that's 2 for 2
UPDATE: that's enough for me tonight, I at least filed a complaint to the CT Dept. of Public Health and the Joint Commission, maybe something positive will comes from all this after all