Presentation

Adoption of Crash Carts (Emergency Carts) in pediatric Settings

• According to Jacquet et al. (2018), every minute delay in addressing emergencies reduces the success of interventions by 7-10%
• Many health care settings lack standardized crash cart designs (Silva et al., 2021)
• Lack of standardized cart designs and failure to update the contents increases probability of non-compliance to emergency protocols (Makkar & Madaan, 2016)
• Nurses are also poorly informed about the usefulness of an up-to-date crash cart
• Crash carts should be frequently reviewed and contents updated

• Pediatric settings are high risk environments prone to many errors
• The life-threatening emergencies demand prompt response while considering the safety of the actions taken
• Crash carts are considered critical in addressing medical emergencies
• The challenge addressed entailed the lack of a crash cart to handle emergencies
• The nurses also have inadequate knowledge about the importance of crash carts

• Standardizing crash carts is one of the common solutions to the problem.
• Standardizing carts can improve their functionality in emergencies (Silva et al., 2021)
• BroselowTM type charts are recommended for the standardization of crash carts (Al-Busaidi et al., 2017; Mishra et al., 2016)
• Training healthcare staff about emergency carts can improve adherence to protocols (Singleton et al., 2018)

• Ensure the presence of emergency carts in all units
• Broselow-type carts to standardize the carts
• Nine drawers in the carts, with the first dedicated for genera; equipment and medication
• Color-coded with three trays for basic airway equipment, advanced airway equipment, and IV access equipment
• Protocol for maintenance of cart will be created
• Inspection of medications’ expiry day each month
• Removal/replacement of expired medicine
• Inspection to ensure equipment are functional
• Staff training about the crash carts

I would like to acknowledge my preceptor at the practice setting for approving the project and providing support throughout to ensure the achievement of the expected results

• Having crash carts in pediatric settings is critical to reducing delays in response to emergencies

Literature Review on Solution

Implementation

Acknowledgment

Conclusion

Introduction

Literature Review on problem

Assessing Success

• Pre-implementation delays in addressing emergencies will be assessed
• Presence of a crash cart in every unit
• Delays to responding to emergencies assessed after the implementation of the protocol
• Improvements in nurses knowledge about the usefulness of crash carts
• Improvement in compliance with the established protocols

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

Source: ACLS Training Center (2021)