Mobile medical carts allow you to transport essential diagnostic equipment, medical supplies, and other tools to where they need to be. Aside from the importance of mobility to your medical carts, there are also specific criteria that you should be aware of when selecting medical carts appropriate to your hospital or practice. From ease of cleaning and security to ergonomic design and battery systems, medical carts need to meet a variety of standards.
Medical Carts on Wheels
In the fast-paced and ever-changing environment of a hospital, you need to access technology and medication promptly. Medical carts that are mobile meet this requirement, improving the efficiency of your hospital’s workflow. The wheels allow you to maneuver the cart in confined spaces, such as between patient beds and around tight corners. However, for the sake of safety, you should be able to lock the casters when diagnosing or treating patients.
Types of Medical Carts
There are different mobile medical cart types that can improve productivity and staff efficiency, including:
Anesthesia Carts
An anesthesia cart is designed to allow anesthesiologists to organize sedative medications and vital monitoring equipment in a single, conveniently accessible location for administration in the operating theater.
Crash Carts
When seconds count, you need access to lifesaving drugs and equipment to stabilize patients during cardiac arrest. A crash cart consists of shelves, drawers, and trays to store medical equipment for deployment during advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) and advanced life support (ALS) procedures. These include such devices as defibrillators, ACLS drugs (e.g., epinephrine, atropine, vasopressin), manual resuscitators, and other equipment as determined by the hospital.
A crash cart must be deployable at a moment’s notice, so a stable yet narrow wheelbase and lockable casters that swivel easily are a necessity.
Medication Carts
A necessary addition to any healthcare facility is a medication cart that allows nurses and doctors to have ready access to medication without compromising security. Medication carts should have lockable and fully customizable drawers to prevent unauthorized access to and theft of potentially dangerous and addictive drugs. They should also provide ample drawer space, so you’re never running short of what you need when you need it.
A mobile medication cart enables you to treat patients at different locations using a single storage system. This limits the time staff spend waiting at a central pharmacy or traveling between supply rooms.
Isolation Carts
In any medical facility, the use of isolation practices is the ideal solution to stemming the spread of infectious diseases and airborne pathogens. The use of PPE (personal protective equipment) for that purpose is essential.
Isolation carts are designed to store PPE, from sterile exam gloves and face masks to gowns, in a sterile and accessible place that you can move as needed. They also feature hazardous waste containers for safe used PPE disposal and baskets to store cleaning supplies to sterilize the mobile workstation between patients. These supply carts are vital to ensuring a sanitary and safe work environment.
When you need to replace your PPE, having an isolation cart on casters can be incredibly convenient, ensuring that you’re not without protective gear any longer than necessary.
Wheels vs. Casters
The wheel is the circular part that rolls on the floor, usually coated in a hard rubber or polyurethane material. The caster is the entire assembly, including the U-shaped fork that attaches the wheel to the cart itself. These allow the wheels to swivel, maximizing mobility while also absorbing shock. These are among the most important accessories for medical carts.
Why Casters?
In addition to providing you with the maneuverability and versatility needed to adapt to and meet the challenges of a busy hospital, casters that are also electrically conductive protect delicate electronic equipment on board, such as the computer workstation and battery systems. Electrostatic shock can cause significant discomfort to hospital workers; however, it can also disrupt or destroy electronics.
User Adjustability
Nurses and doctors sometimes have to use medical carts, including those with computer workstations, for extended periods. As a result, mobility is only part of the user-friendly problem. Configurable medical carts should, therefore, allow for height adjustment to avoid neck strain. If you’d prefer an automated system, consider carts that have electric motorized column lifts.
Battery Systems
Mobile medical carts that need to supply electrical current to equipment on board, from defibrillators to desktop computers, need a reliable power supply. Scott-Clark Medical uses lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that meet industry standards and use a hot-swappable system for maintaining continuous power at all times. A lightweight internal battery is sufficient for those medication carts where a power supply is only needed to activate and deactivate the drawer locking mechanisms.
Ease of Cleaning
Medical carts are potentially exposed to pathogens and other contaminants in hospital settings. Sanitation is essential for ensuring that medical staff and patients are protected from the bacterial and viral hazards in healthcare environments.
To thoroughly decontaminate and sterilize medical carts, they need to have accessible and easy to clean surfaces, such as smooth panels.
Durable Construction
We use a variety of materials in the manufacture of our medical carts. Aluminum is lightweight and relatively durable; however, it’s not as strong as steel alloys, including stainless steel.
Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion and medically inert, so its use in the manufacture of medical carts increases the ease with which hospital workers can sterilize these work surfaces.
At Scott-Clark Medical, our carts are composed of several materials, including aluminum and stainless steel, to achieve the best balance between lightweight design and high-strength construction. A steel frame ensures that the medical cart remains functional under various conditions and stresses for longer service life.
Custom Medical Carts
At Scott-Clark Medical, we offer specialized and multipurpose carts for a diverse range of needs. However, one size does not fit all. If you need a custom utility cart solution for your practice or hospital, give us a call, and we’ll discuss your options.
Our patented configurable medication cart design is the product of sound engineering to ensure the utmost in reliable performance, safety, and security. At Scott-Clark Medical, our affordable medical carts are the most versatile on the market.