» Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer Model TAT-2000C

Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer Model TAT-2000C Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Please don't waste your time with this device ...
Comment:
I purchased this Temporal Thermometer as a present for my wife, who is an ER RN is the Los Angeles area. We had been looking for about a week for a dependable and consistent thermometer for our child when I broke down a few days from her birthday and got this.

When she saw the device she was pretty unhappy about it as she had been forced for over a week to use these devices at her work, which proved to be more trouble and a larger headache in the institutional setting then they were worth. All of the Temporal Thermometers were tossed into a box and collected up and either most likely returned for a credit or tossed. Time is of the essence.

But I was intrigued and opened the package anyway and we experimented and test-ran this thermometer for about a month side by side with another thermometer, the Braun Thermoscan. I saw exactly the same results that she dealt with at her work. Here are some examples of the inconsistency:

1. Have a temperature or a fever? Error results or repeated inaccurate readings by more than one-point-five and sometime two-point-five degrees, which is huge.
2. Moisture on forehead ... from the fever ...? Error results or repeated inaccurate readings.
3. Head angle and forehead shape will dictate whether or not the device will even work.
4. Different degrees register on different portions of the same forehead.
5. Different degrees register with darker skin(!) That's the first time for that one.

Some of the reviews tell you that you need to practice with the device and develop a technique, which is absolutely absurd. What? You're supposed to go around the neighborhood interfering with other parents when their kids are sick to work on your 'technique'? Gimme a break, please. It's a thermometer , it should work and work consistently. Unfortunately it doesn't do what it's supposed to do and therefore Exergen should take this product back to the drawing board and also remove the labeling on the front about how it's the most accurate, which it is very clearly not.

I openly suspect a lot of these positive five-star reviews of this product have been placed by people directly related with this company as an ad effort. And coming from a long-time review on Amazon, this kind of thing is more rampant than you might think.

Don't buy this, getting your money back will be harder then taking a temp.

... ...

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Customer Rating:
Summary: learning curve
Comment: So simple after you learn how to use it (isn't everything). You must wait until skin contact to push the scan button. There is still a variance in repeat readings though.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Exergen
Comment: Until now and after 2 months I have not received the product and have not received a answer to my enuire about that I have not received the thermometer. I am waiting an answer from the seller without success. I want my money back

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Customer Rating:
Summary: I love it
Comment: This is great. Only a swipe of forehead or artery below the ear and instant accurate temperture. No more waiting forever with old alcohol (mercury look) thermometer. No more germs or covers from electric. No covers to buy. No waiting for beeps, no more crying because children cant breathe through nose to hold mouth on it.
I'll never use another thermometer again.

Beware, fast swipe can cause friction effect and inaccurate temp
Best to take at least 2 swipes. I'm a nurse I use this often.
Most accurate temp is from femoral artery in between the legs. The biggest artery in body if you have access to it. It runs down the inside of the thigh. Obviously if you didn't know the person it wouldn't be available. But on this thermometer it would be equal to a rectal reading.
in accuracy

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Practice makes perfect
Comment: Three years, two batteries, and lots of use and abuse -- still going strong. We used to go through three $7 cheapo digitals a year before we bought the Exergen, which was a replacement for a new Braun ear thermometer that didn't handle ear-infection fevers and was uncomfortable for the sick person.

It's a simple procedure, with practice. Note the previous advice to make sure the button is only depressed DURING thermometer contact with skin. We've learned to make four passes: each half of the forehead (middle to near-ear, tracing a "shallow wavy line" to make sure we're catching the right spots), and firmly pressed in the hollow under each ear lobe (after "airing it out" for 30s to avoid heat trapped by long hair, pillows, etc.). Remember to give a previously-probed area at least a half-minute or so to "recover" if you want to probe it again -- the probe will have slightly cooled the skin. My four readings per set were within 0.2 degrees F after a few sessions of practice, and each set takes about 20s, or about a minute if "ear-airing" is necessary. The beeping is helpful once you get tuned into the "good-readings" patterns.

If temp readings start to look erratic, try wiping the lens area (especially the shiny cone) with soft cloth slightly dampened with alcohol. Skin oil can film over the works and distort readings. We found that multiple erratic and "ERR" readings meant it was time to change the battery. (Hold it door-side up, probe-end facing you: Firmly push door ridges away from you with your thumbs.)

We use a newer model at preschool. I tell the kid, "Here comes the magic probe!," make beeping robot noises, and show him/her each reading. Most kids are fascinated enough to sit still for it. Our kids are special-needs, and the probe is much less invasive and quicker to use on touch-sensitive autistic children than other thermometers. Even with a squirmy, unhappy child, we can at least find or rule out "official fevers" (100.4F and above). The school's model has disposable covers, but I find them unwieldy (likely a practice thing) and prefer to alcohol-wipe the probe between coverless uses.

Like others, I wish it was back-lit (though batteries would drain faster). A beeper-off switch for the benefit of acutely sensitive ears (or lightly sleeping babies) would be helpful. Otherwise, it's great.

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