ENT On-call Equipment Bag: Updated for COVID-19

Otorhinolaryngology, or Ear Nose and throat (ENT), is a specialty requiring specific equipment for the management and treatment of patients. While most hospitals provide a 24/7 ENT procedure room, there is also a need for a mobile equipment bag with objects and instruments not readily available outside of the ENT department. We look to introduce a novel ENT equipment bag and checklist which has been updated to include a list of required equipment in the setting of the current COVID-19 pandemic. For the ENT equipment bag we use a high visibility multi-compartment bag. In addition to this, the bag contains four folders, labelled “Ear”, “Nose”, “Throat” and “Drugs”. The necessary ENT equipment is divided and included within these folders. The bag also contains a copy of the “ENT bag checklist”. This is a list, designed by the Whipps Cross ENT team, which specifies the required ENT equipment, including PPE in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The bag is stocked once a week using this list. Using this new system we developed a portable, practical and easy to use ENT on call equipment bag that included all of the relevant PPE to manage COVID-19 patients. We also implemented a new method of bag stocking to ensure that the bag is adequately stocked. In conclusion, we present a COVID-19 updated ENT bag and checklist. We hope this will help act as a reference for other ENT teams to compare and implement during the current COVID-19 pandemic.