Medical procedure cart and method of customizing the same

Abstract

A medical procedure cart includes a housing having a working surface disposed on a top thereof. The working surface forms a tray and includes a transparent top removably disposed above the tray. A height adjustment mechanism adjusts the height of the working surface. The template includes a plurality of figures depicting various different materials, instruments and equipment an operator prefers for a particular procedure. The operator can place the instruments, supplies and equipment on the transparent top of the working surface above a corresponding figure to enable the working surface to be stocked for a particular procedure.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 563,943, filed on Apr. 22, 2004.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a medical procedure cart that can be stocked according to a particular operator, and more particularly, to a medical procedure cart and stocking method thereof that incorporates a stocking template to enable the user to quickly and easily prepare for a medical procedure. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] A medical procedure cart is used to carry the necessary medical equipment, instruments and other materials that a medical professional needs for a particular procedure. For example, an emergency crash cart includes all the necessary equipment for a medical emergency and can be quickly moved into a treatment room or area upon demand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,610 discloses such a medical emergency crash cart. [0006] In addition to emergency or code car...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] It is an object of the present invention to provide a small, easily organized cart for medical procedures that contains and has readily available all of the equipment necessary to insert a device, such as a catheter (intravenous, arterial, epidural, etc.), into a patient, and which allows for the disposal of all of the hazardous materials, such as needles, used during the procedure.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a medical procedure cart that is adjustable in height to enable the operator to easily bring the cart to the patient's side where the insertion is performed.

[0015] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a medical procedure cart that is customized by enabling each operator to designate in advance all equipment preferred for the particular procedure and to provide a customized working surface with the designated equipment without forgetting any necessary materials.

[0016] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method that facilitates the teaching of a medical procedure by enabling each operator to custom design his / her working surface with all the preferred equipment. Such a custom design feature makes it easy for an operator to set up the cart each day and facilitates training of an assistant by helping the technician, nurse, trainee, etc., to arrange the specific equipment desired by each operator for each particular procedure.

Problems solved by technology

The current process for inserting catheters, such as intravenous, arterial, epidural, etc., into a patient is inefficient and hazardous.

However, each operator's needs and procedure is unique and often the cart is not equipped completely or properly.

If the cart is not stocked properly, the operator has to gather additional equipment in the middle of the procedure.

Another drawback of these known carts is the inability to store and access a multitude of different instruments and equipment to avoid the gathering of additional equipment.

This creates significant safety issues during a procedure should the operator have to cease the procedure to search for equipment.

Also, by having the instruments stored within drawers of the cart, it is difficult and time consuming for the operator or assistant to visually inspect the cart to see if all the contents are available.

Therefore, even though a cart is designated as an anesthesia cart, not all the desired instrumentation or equipment may be available for a particular user.

This is very time consuming and inefficient.

Furthermore, even though the known carts are movable to the patient site, the height of the cart is not adjustable and the operator must often create a work surface that defaults to being the patient's bed or stretcher or in the operating room, the surgical table.

Also, the size of the cart itself prohibits close proximity to the patient, once again requiring the operator to carry the instrumentation to the patient site.

However, as with the above-known procedure carts, these trays do not allow for operator customized stocking of instruments.

Moreover, the use of such trays also creates an undesirable work surface as mentioned above.

Following completion of the procedure, all hazardous materials used (especially needles) must be picked up and transferred to a special and separate sharps container, which may not be conveniently located.

Any needles inadvertently left on the working surface, i.e., the bed, stretcher or operating table, may cause injury to the operator or others (nurses, housekeepers, other medical professionals) who get stuck when either attempting to remove these sharp objects or when they are forgotten or lost and then later encountered.

Images