Pediatric Community

Hi everyone,

I'm working on proposing a change to our pediatric code cart setup at my current facility and would love your input. At a previous hospital, our pediatric code carts were organized by delivery module (e.g., IV, oxygen, IO, airway, miscellaneous.), with each drawer containing delivery module bags/packs and they were stocked accordingly. This layout significantly improved efficiency and team coordination during high-stress situations.

I'm looking for evidence-based practice (EBP), research articles, or even published guidelines or toolkits that support this type of organization for pediatric code carts. Have any of your facilities adopted this method? If so, what benefits or outcomes have you observed?

Any resources, feedback, or implementation tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Aloha Heather

Over the years, I, like you, have seen "color coded crash carts" of various varieties out there, however, I haven't come across a whole lot published on this topic - As such, I e-mailed Armstrong Medical for their thoughts & they sent the attached research summary from a 2015 study - I know it's 2015, but honestly, it's the only one I've come across

Hope this helps

Mahalo

Scott

Hi everyone,

I'm working on proposing a change to our pediatric code cart setup at my current facility and would love your input. At a previous hospital, our pediatric code carts were organized by delivery module (e.g., IV, oxygen, IO, airway, miscellaneous.), with each drawer containing delivery module bags/packs and they were stocked accordingly. This layout significantly improved efficiency and team coordination during high-stress situations.

I'm looking for evidence-based practice (EBP), research articles, or even published guidelines or toolkits that support this type of organization for pediatric code carts. Have any of your facilities adopted this method? If so, what benefits or outcomes have you observed?

Any resources, feedback, or implementation tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi, Heather,

As Scott De Boer noted, there is not much EBR out there on this topic. Our facility currently has a poster entered in a national conference this week in San Diego relating to color-coded weight-based systems. It took quite a bit of digging for us to find current, relatable research. In answer to one of your questions, our hospital system (2 Level I Trauma centers, 2 with pediatric facilities, 6 total EDs and 3 off campus EDs) does use the delivery module method on our pediatric code carts. We have found it saves time and ensures needed equipment is not only readily available, but less likely to be missed when replenishing the carts after use. I teach an annual mandatory course to our pediatric nursing staff on pediatric code response, and we cover the contents of the delivery modules as well as the reason why they are bundled. Feedback from live codes is the bundles save time and decrease anxiety. Two of our facilities purchase the delivery systems premade. The rest are special order through our materials department with clear sealed plastic bags of supplies with color-coded paper inside listing the contents of each bag. 

Aloha Heather

Over the years, I, like you, have seen "color coded crash carts" of various varieties out there, however, I haven't come across a whole lot published on this topic - As such, I e-mailed Armstrong Medical for their thoughts & they sent the attached research summary from a 2015 study - I know it's 2015, but honestly, it's the only one I've come across

Hope this helps

Mahalo

Scott

Hi everyone,

I'm working on proposing a change to our pediatric code cart setup at my current facility and would love your input. At a previous hospital, our pediatric code carts were organized by delivery module (e.g., IV, oxygen, IO, airway, miscellaneous.), with each drawer containing delivery module bags/packs and they were stocked accordingly. This layout significantly improved efficiency and team coordination during high-stress situations.

I'm looking for evidence-based practice (EBP), research articles, or even published guidelines or toolkits that support this type of organization for pediatric code carts. Have any of your facilities adopted this method? If so, what benefits or outcomes have you observed?

Any resources, feedback, or implementation tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Aloha Heather

Over the years, I, like you, have seen "color coded crash carts" of various varieties out there, however, I haven't come across a whole lot published on this topic - As such, I e-mailed Armstrong Medical for their thoughts & they sent the attached research summary from a 2015 study - I know it's 2015, but honestly, it's the only one I've come across

Hope this helps

Mahalo

Scott

Hi everyone,

I'm working on proposing a change to our pediatric code cart setup at my current facility and would love your input. At a previous hospital, our pediatric code carts were organized by delivery module (e.g., IV, oxygen, IO, airway, miscellaneous.), with each drawer containing delivery module bags/packs and they were stocked accordingly. This layout significantly improved efficiency and team coordination during high-stress situations.

I'm looking for evidence-based practice (EBP), research articles, or even published guidelines or toolkits that support this type of organization for pediatric code carts. Have any of your facilities adopted this method? If so, what benefits or outcomes have you observed?

Any resources, feedback, or implementation tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!