Novel solutions to old problems: improving the reliability of emergency equipment provision in critical care using accessible digital solutions

Reliable provision of emergency equipment in Critical Care is key to ensure patient safety during medical emergencies and transfers. A problem was identified in incident reports and external inspections of processes that ensured the provision of such equipment for use by critical care teams in non-critical care areas in the form of grab bags. A comprehensive project was undertaken to tackle this including the provision of a bespoke digital system. Existing systems were reliant on staff remembering to check equipment and document checks on paper and there was no formal ability to hand over ongoing problems. A local project management approach, ‘7 Steps to Quality Improvement’, which integrated many of the philosophies and tools from Healthcare Improvement was used. A bespoke digital system was designed and implemented with integrated improvements in equipment stocking ergonomics. The reliability of documented equipment checks improved significantly, there was a significant reduction in the number of incident reports regarding emergency equipment and the time spent by staff doing equipment checks was reduced substantially with significant cost and resource improvements. This was so successful the format has been rapidly translated and spread to other areas such as operating theatres’ difficult airway trolleys. Undertaking a structured quality improvement approach, using appropriate stakeholder engagement, digitalisation of systems and improvements in basic system ergonomics can have a substantial impact on the reliability and safety of emergency equipment provided for use by members of the critical care team.