N.A.D. Compact
North American Dräger (NAD) was founded in 1968 by engineer Peter J. Schreiber and two partners in rural Telford, Pennsylvania, with financial backing from the West German company, Dräger. Before immigrating to the U.S. in 1966, Schreiber worked for Dräger designing anesthesia equipment. The first products made by NAD were veterinary anesthesia machines; the company also sold equipment made by Dräger. NAD made machines for clinical anesthesia from 1972 through the mid-2000s, when it was absorbed by the parent company.
NAD's first clinical machine was the Narkomed. Their second machine was the Narkomed Compact Anesthesia System, introduced in 1975. NAD 's third machine, the AMIII, followed two years later. The Subcompact model was introduced in 1981.
Most of the Narkomed models were electronic. The more economical Compact was pneumatic, that is, operated by gas under pressure. The basic Compact could administer only nitrous oxide and oxygen. The example shown here is equipped with several of the Compact's optional features, including a ventilator, a respiratory monitor, and two Dräger Vapor vaporizers, one for halothane and one for enflurane. The Compact continued in production for about a decade. It had a second career as the Narkovet Deluxe, marketed for veterinary anesthesia.
Catalog Record: N.A.D. Compact NAD Compact
Access Key: aqsu
Accession No.: 2014-02-15-1 A
Title: Dräger compact anesthesia system / North American Dräger.
Corporate Author: North American Dräger.
Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Narkomed compact.
Physical Description: 1 anesthesia machine : metals, plastics, glass, rubber, 176 x 89 x 64 cm.
Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation – instrumentation.
Subject: Anesthesia Machines – computerized.
Subject: Enflurane.
Subject: Halothane.
Subject: Nitrous Oxide.
Subject: Oxygen.
Note Type: General
Notes: Title taken from the object. Described from the perspective of the user, with all controls facing forward. The first year in the range of possible dates of manufacture is the year of introduction. The second year in the date range is the year that the manufacturer’s name was changed; the cataloged object is likely to have been manufactured somewhat earlier.
The cataloger searched the websites of Google Books, Google Scholar, Hathi Trust and Worldcat. Both the spellings “Drager” and “Draeger” were searched together with alternative arrangements of the words “Narkomed”, “Compact” and “machine”. Apart from a 1985 technical manual only four references were found; none of the latter concerned clinical use.
Note Type: Citation
Notes: North American Draeger Company File. Archives. Located at: Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois.
Note Type: Citation
Notes: yeec.com website. North American Draeger Compact Technical Manual, June, 1985. https://www.yeec.com/uploadimages1/forum/201005%E5%A4%87%E4%BB%BD/drager%20Narkomed2A%20SM.pdf. Accessed March 1, 2018.
Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: One anesthesia machine; Consists of an upper bank of frame on four wheels, holding a tabletop with two drawers below it, and an upper bank of instruments; The components in the upper bank are, from left to right, a switch marked: “ON OFF POWER”, a gauge marked: “BPM 10, 12, 15,20, 25, 30”, a knob marked: “FREQUENCY”, a needle gauge marked: “FLOW LOW MEDIUM HIGH”, and at the far right, a knob marked: “FLOW”;
A ventilator is mounted above and to the left of this instrument bank; The ventilator canister holds a descending bellows; The canister is marked: “PRE-SET [new line] TIDAL VOLUME [new line] MICROMETERS [new line] 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500, 1750”; A label on the bottom edge of the ventilator reads: “WARNING! Movement of the bellows shall not be used as an [new line] indicator of a securely connected patient”;
The pole that supports the ventilator is labeled: “WARNING [new line] The Dräger AV Ventilator [new line] and Dräger AV absorber [new line] are designed to be operated [new line] as a unit. [new line] Do not use another brand [new line] of ventilator or absorber [new line] with either unit without [new line] the explicit approval of [new line] N. A. D., Inc.”
An oxygen flush button and a black metal handle are mounted on the left side of the front of the tabletop; A label plate on the right side of the front edge reads: “DRÄGER COMPACT [new line] ANESTHESIA SYSTEM [new line] NORTH AMERICAN DRÄGER”; The right side of the tabletop holds two yokes; that in front is marked “N2O” and that behind it is marked “O2”;
The tabletop holds, from left to right, a Dräger Vapor halothane vaporizer, a flowmeter bank with one tube and one gauge for nitrous oxide and two tubes and one gauge for oxygen, and a Dräger Vapor enflurane vaporizer;
Mounted on a pole to the left of the tabletop is an array that includes a double-canister carbon dioxide absorber, a Dräger Volumeter, another pressure gauge, inspiration and expiration valves;
Two pipeline connectors are mounted on the back of the flowmeter bank, one for oxygen and one nitrous oxide; A label on the back of the flowmeter bank reads: “WARNING [new line] 1. When attaching gas cylinder to yoke use [new line] only one (1) yoke gasket. Use of more [new line] than one gasket may defeat the purpose of [new line] the pin index-system. [new line] 2. Check yoke to be certain that there are [new line] two (2) index pins. Do not use yoke if [new line] either pin is missing. Call your service [new line] representative to correct the condition [new line] if a pin is missing. [new line] 3. Check that pipeline hose connectors are [new line] secure and are connected to the proper wall outlet.”; Below this another label reads: “NOTICE [new line] In the interest of patient safety [new line] North American Dräger strongly [new line] advocates use of an oxygen analyzer in the breathing circuit.”;
There are three label plates on the right rear leg of the frame; The uppermost label reads: “CAUTION [new line] FEDERAL LAW RESTRICTS [new line] THIS DEVICE TO SALE BY [new line] OR ON THE ORDER OF A [new line] PHYSICIAN”; The next label reads: “NORTH AMERICAN DRÄGER [new line] 148 B QUARRY ROAD [new line] TELFORD, PA 18969 U.S.A. [new line] MODEL COMPACT [new line] SER NO. 5085”; An adhesive owner’s label reads: “CE-0585”.
Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch, January 17, 2018.
Note Type: Acquisition
Notes: Gift of Mr. James Yoder.
Note Type: Historical
Notes: North American Dräger (NAD) was founded in 1968 by engineer Peter J. Schreiber and two partners in rural Telford, Pennsylvania, with financial backing from the West German company, Dräger. Before immigrating to the U.S. in 1966, Schreiber worked for Dräger designing anesthesia equipment. The first products made by NAD were veterinary anesthesia machines; the company also sold equipment made by Dräger. NAD made machines for clinical anesthesia from 1972 through the mid-2000s, when it was absorbed by the parent company.
NAD’s first clinical machine was the Narkomed (later called the Narkomed 1), introduced in 1972. Their second machine was the Narkomed Compact Anesthesia System, introduced in 1975. NAD ‘s third machine, the AMIII, followed two years later. The Subcompact model was introduced in 1981. Most of the machines in the Narkomed line were electronic. The more economical Compact was pneumatic (that is, operated by gas under pressure.) The basic Compact could administer nitrous oxide, oxygen and one liquid agent. The manufacturer also offered several optional components. The cataloged example is equipped with four of these, a ventilator, a respiratory monitor, a second vaporizer, and two drawers. The Compact had a second career as the Narkovet Deluxe, marketed for veterinary anesthesia.
Note Type: Exhibition
Notes: Selected for the WLM website.
