ecmo carts in hospitals

In our hospital our ECMO nurses (average age 50's) have requested Ergo assistances re: pushing the ECMO carts. The ECMO cart weighs about 425# and is pushed long distances between buildings/units in our system. They have many components and vision is also blocked during transport of the cart. I am interested in any ergo redesigns of this cart or processes, etc that have been effective in reducing the weight and/or improving vision while handling these carts. Purchasing addtional carts is not an option at this time.

thanks

Bridget

Ortho/Neuro and devices

We are in the midst of purchasing more equipment for our Safe Patient Handling initiative and are setting up a vendor fair to evaluate products.

We presently have the usual sit/stand and total lifts, lateral air device and repositioning sheets. The "heavy surgical" units such as the orthopaedic/neuro unit or OB report difficulty using the standard equipment; several of the reasons include the location of the surgical site(s), numerous IV's/hookups, acute pain increased by contact/pressure, patients who are very groggy, are on heavy medication dosages and/or have massive muscle bulk. Usually the patient requires 3-4 people for repositioning, getting from bed to chair etc.; this fits into our category for needing to use devices/equipment.

Any suggestions on vendors and/or equipment specific to the above population needss or is there a particular acuity/staffing level that we can reference to improve our education/training and equipment efforts as well as our outcomes on these units?
Thanks for anyone's comments.
Kathy


Kathleen S. Wolf, OTR, CRC
Return to Work & Rehabilitation Case Manager
Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Waukesha WI
Email: kathy.wolf@phci.org