New Resuscitation Trolley Will Save Lives

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 19 Jun 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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NHS staff will get a chance to see the future when they visit the NHS Innovation Expo. The futuristic items on display will include a new resuscitation "crash" trolley, which will support the cardiac arrest team by improving communication, coordination and overall efficiency. The new trolley also offers an innovative design that ensures equipment is easy to find and notifies staff when anything is missing or has expired.

Resuscitation of a patient is a highly complex process which requires a cardiac arrest team and an appropriately stocked resuscitation trolley. For the past 60 years the design of the crash trolley has not changed and is little more than a modified workman's tool chest.

A design and patient safety team was formed to design a purpose built resuscitation platform or Resus:Station which will be displayed at the NHS Innovation Expo. The multidisciplinary team involved clinicians and experts in patient safety from the Imperial Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality, which is part of the Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology at Imperial College London, and designers from the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre.

Features of the Resus:Station are:

The trolley can also be fitted with Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tagging so that items could be stock checked instantaneously.
The trolley is fitted with a touch screen computer, which clearly illustrates the resuscitation protocol, encourages clear division of team roles and team leadership and can facilitate post arrest audit and data capture.
Equipment is stored in a visible, logical and universal manner and splits into three sub-trolleys: one for Airway and Breathing, one for IV access and the final section for defibrillation.

Health Minister Lord Darzi said:

"In order to provide 21st century healthcare we must come up with innovative solutions to the problems that can impact on quality care and even cost lives.

"This new crash trolley is a perfect example and I applaud the design team that worked on this for their innovative thinking."

Dr James Kinross, a researcher and clinician from Imperial College London who helped with the trolley design, said:

"Remarkably the old design is still based on a garage tool trolley. Doctors and nurses work together under stressful and time critical conditions to resuscitate patients who have suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest.

"But data suggests that poor design of crash trolleys may directly influence the risk of an adverse event for the patient, preventing a successful resuscitation attempt.

"The design solutions are intuitive and simple so that any member of a team can use the trolley without instruction.

"For example, the trolley has no drawers and all medical equipment is highly visible and easy to locate in an emergency."

Jonathan West, lead designer on the project and Senior Associate at the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre, said: "By rooting the design in the resuscitation process we were able to create many features to help make resuscitation less error prone. Working with clinicians as users of the trolley gave the key insights for design inspiration.

"The next step is to move the testing from simulation into clinical trials and gather an evidence base to support the design."

In 2007 the resuscitation trolley won two Medical Futures Innovation Awards. We have received funding from The Wellcome Trust to explore the impact of the Resus:Station on the performance of the resuscitation team and the feasibility and applicability of the trolley in simulated environments and clinical trial. Five third-generation prototypes have been produced with manufacturers Bristol Maid for the trial which will begin shortly.

Source
Department of Health, UK