Emergency Crash Cart Content Checklist Did You Know?Designed by the father of one of the doctors at the Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City, the first cardiac crash cart comprised an Ambu bag, defibrillator paddles, a bed board, and endotracheal tubes. The term 'Code Blue' refers to a situation when a patient in a hospital requires resuscitation or immediate medical attention due to a life-threatening situation such as a respiratory or cardiac arrest. For such situations, a well-stocked crash cart (code cart) is placed in emergency rooms. Basically, a crash cart is a specially designed wheeled chest of drawers, or a trolley that contains life-saving drugs and equipment. Carts are often positioned in intensive care units/emergency rooms, or places where these are easily accessible to the doctors. The contents of a crash cart help the doctors handle an emergency. There's no denying the fact that time is of great essence in such situations, which is why these carts are built in such a way that they can be readily moved to the emergency site. The doctors and nurses involved in such cases have to be familiar with the contents of the cart so that the emergency is handled properly. They have to be trained in life support protocols such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support/Advance Life Support (ACLS/ALS) and Pediatric Advanced life Support (PALS). It must be noted that the contents of an emergency cart can slightly vary from hospital to hospital. However, the cart mainly contains life-saving drugs, IV solutions and tubing, breathing equipment, defibrillator, procedure trays, other medical supplies, etc. The arrangement of the drugs and the emergency equipment could also vary, depending on the institution and the type of cart. The number of drawers present in a cart can vary from 3 to 7. Contents of the Emergency Crash Carts ? Placed on top of the crash cart is the defibrillator, which administers an electric shock of a certain voltage to the heart so as to restore the normal rhythm of the heart in the event of a cardiac arrest. Other items that are placed on the shelf, containers, and the left side include defibrillator pads, latex gloves, stethoscope, BVM masks, sharps container, oxygen, inventory checklist/Code Blue sheets, etc. A cardiac board is often placed on the rear. ? The first drawer contains emergency or ACLS first-line, rapid sequence drugs such as epinephrine, atropine, amiodarone, lidocaine, nitroglycerin, diazepam, naloxone, sodium bicarbonate, dopamine, and vasopressin. ? Pediatric medication and IV solutions might be placed in the second drawer. ? The adult intubation supplies are mostly placed in the third drawer. These include endotracheal tubes, tracheostomy tube, ambu bag, oral airways, pressure cuffs, carbon dioxide detector, suction catheters, nasal cannulas, laryngoscope, forceps, guidewire, bulbs, blades, batteries, straight and curved blade, syringe, lubricant, adhesive tape, exam gloves, IV cannulas, disposable syringes, etc. ?The infant and pediatric intubation supplies are placed in the fourth drawer. Pediatric doses of emergency drugs, and small-sized endotracheal tubes, blood pressure cuffs, oxygen masks, cannulas, etc., can be found in this drawer. ? The fifth drawer contains IV supplies (cannulas, drip sets, fluids) and blood draw supplies. It usually contains catheters, tourniquets, syringes, tubes, and tape.
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