Is it better to stage your equipment in an effort to increase safety for your patients during this coronavirus outbreak?
We once had a school bus rollover accident near our town. Many of the kids were brought to our hospital for treatment while others were driven and flown elsewhere.
One thing that made our radiology department acutely efficient that day was setting up a triage area in the emergency department just for imaging.
By that, I mean selecting key portable equipment and placing it in the ER for quick use.
- laptop for reviewing the worklist and triaging orders
- portable xray machine and technologist
- ultrasound machine and technologist
This eliminated all transport time of driving portables from other parts of the hospital to the ER.
It also eliminates transporting the patients to your imaging department or even to a dedicated xray room in your ER if you have one.
I pulled one portable xray machine and one ultrasound machine and staged them in the ER.
Along with them were two dedicated technologists who stayed inside the ER.
A third technologist used a laptop that helped to triage the incoming orders.
The workflow
Ambulances would tell us who and what was arriving. A 12-year-old male with leg pain and laceration, going to room 4.
That queued our xray tech to be ready in room 4 where the patient would be placed. As soon as the attending physician gave the order, we had the digital xray in our system.
Then the tech would return to our staging area in the ER, awaiting the next order.
The triage tech would make sure all exams were pushed to the proper location for stat reads.
Same for the ultrasounds.
Altered version for Coronavirus
Again we find ourselves potentially triaging many patients. But this scenario is a little different.
You can’t just run in and out of patient rooms with portable equipment during a suspected airborne virus pandemic.
But, maybe you can dedicate one portable xray unit and one digital detector or cassette to stay in the ER.
This could allow you to save your other portables (assuming you have more than one unit) and your detectors for the rest of your hospital.
We have an old AMX-4 sitting in a corner (who doesn’t, right?) Instead of taking our newer model into the ER and wiping it down every single time, why not take the old AMX-4 in there and leave it.
Yes, it still has to get cleaned between every patient. But you don’t risk running around the hospital with your Covid-19 portable this way.
Steps to keeping equipment clean
I have already researched and posted which of the Sani-Cloths are the best ones for Covid-19:
- Dark Purple
- Light Purple
- Gray
- Orange
We have also learned that a C-arm cover from the operating room can be placed over the portable swing arm.
Reduces surface cleaning and allows you to get to the next patient quicker.
Take your time and clean your units properly. Use the Sani-Cloths mentioned above and allow for proper drying time (read the bottle for exact times.)
Conclusion
Consider dedicating certain equipment to the emergency room and don’t use it elsewhere in the hospital.
Make sure you have the right Sani-Cloth or other cleaning agents to wipe the machines down in between patients.
Also be sure to observe the proper drying time after wiping it down.
Use C-arm plastic O.R. covers to reduce cleaning time.