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ER Equipment
What equipment is standard in most emergency rooms? What is an emergency room crash cart used for? Stethoscope  Cardiac Monitor  Suture Tray  Orthopedic Equipment  Crash Cart  The crash cart (in red) is located next to the bed.  Defibrillator - This is an electrical device with two paddles that are placed on your chest. It discharges electricity through your heart when a lethal rhythm is present. The goal is to shock the heart back to normal. "Lethal rhythms" include ventricular fibrillation (rapid, unsynchronized, uncoordinated heartbeat) and ventricular tachycardia (rapid heartbeat that prevents the heart from pumping properly). It can also be used in less dangerous rhythms to return the heart to a normal rhythm.  Endotracheal intubation equipment - Endotracheal intubation is the procedure of placing a tube into someone's trachea (windpipe) when that person stops breathing or is not breathing adequately. The tube allows artificial respiration equipment to take over the job of breathing for the patient. The package includes tubes of different sizes and a laryngoscope -- a special light with a flat metal piece to lift the tongue out of the way so that a tube can be placed into the trachea.  Tools used in endotracheal intubation * Central vein catheters - These are catheters (small tubes) placed in the large central veins (near the heart) so that medications and fluids can reach the heart and important organs quickly. * Cardiac drugs - During a cardiac arrest, certain potent drugs are required to restart the heart or return it to a more stable rhythm. The most common lethal arrhythmias present during a cardiac arrest are: * Ventricular fibrillation - Twitching of the ventricle (main chamber of the heart), as opposed to an effective contraction that pumps blood out of the heart * Ventricular Tachycardia - Rapid contraction of the ventricle, producing insufficient blood flow out of the heart * Asystole - Total absence of electrical activity and therefore no contraction of the heart * Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) - Electrical activity of the heart but inadequate contraction of the heart * Bradycardia - Various rhythms that cause the heart to beat so slowly that not enough blood is pumped out of the heart Some of the drugs that are used to treat these arrhythmias are: * Epinephrine - Used in ventricular fibrillation, pulseless ventricular tachycardia, asystole, PEA, and sometimes bradycardia * Atropine - Used in asystole, bradycardia and sometimes PEA * Lidocaine - Used in ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia There are many other pieces of equipment that are used in an emergency department, including the chest-tube tray, which holds the equipment needed to put in a chest tube (a tube placed between the ribs and the lung to re-expand a collapsed lung), and an ear, nose and throat tray, which holds specialized equipment used most commonly for nosebleeds and to remove foreign bodies from the ear, nose, or throat. Disposition Depending on a patient's specific medical condition, physicians will either admit the patient to the hospital, discharge the patient, or transfer the patient to a more appropriate medical facility. If you are discharged, you will receive discharge instructions (either written specifically for you or pre-printed) that explain your medications and other treatments. If medications are prescribed, you may receive a beginning dose if there are no pharmacies open in your area at that particular time. You will also be referred for follow-up care should your condition continue or worsen. You may need to be transferred if your condition is better treated at another institution. You may have to sign a consent form if your condition or mental state allows. The modern emergency department performs an important role in our society. It really is a marvelous invention that has saved countless lives. Hopefully, the information in this article will help ease your fears should you need the services of an emergency department in the future. |