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

New Zealand Patient Handling Guidelines

I came across a great patient handling website today from the Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand. The lift program they have created is called "Liten Up" and you may download the complete guide on the website. The FAQ section is also quite useful. Here is the link: New Zealand Patient Handling Guidelines

pt handling injuries in Radiology

Our radiology group is in denial that pt handling injuries do not exist even tough there are high injuries from doing portable x-rays at the bedside to transferring patients from w/c onto imaging table.
1. Any solutions for reducing injuries in the upper extremities from pushing the x-ray cassette underneath our patients?
2. Any suggetions (besides $ and injury rates) for getting senior management to buy in or even acknowledge that their staff are getting hurt from handling their patients?
3. Does anyone know of any total-assist lift for MRI area?
Thanks!

Decedent Care

Just wondering how your hospital staff handle the bodies? Do you use any lifts? Our Decedent Care just purchased the "Body Scoop" by Guldmann. It seems to be working fine. Would like hear others' comments? Thanks!

Back Pain and Interventions

I ran across this article today on the Usernomics website and thought I would post it and get your comments. The article is states "A Finnish review has concluded that employer attempts to push training programs that offer lifting advice and material handling devices in an effort to alleviate worker back pain do not prevent the malady, which is said to be the top cause of workers' compensation claims." It also states, "According to Maher, regulatory agencies as well as employers make the mistake of concentrating on equipment and policies that don't work such as back belts, lifting devices and workplace re-design and fail to focus on the 'only known effective intervention,' which is exercise. " I have not been able to find the actual review, just this article about the review. This seems to be a controversial claim. Has anyone encountered other research or reviews that suggest otherwise? Note that this study is talking about back pain and not back injury.

Portable X-Ray Machines

Have you dealt with injuries related to pushing portable cassettes under patients? Any suggestions for ergonomic solutions?