What is Emergency medical trolley and Why Do We Use Them?

Author: Mirabella

Mar. 10, 2025

Importance of Emergency Crash Carts For Hospitals | DSI Direct

As a healthcare professional, you know firsthand the importance of being prepared for emergencies. In the event of a medical crisis, every second counts, and having the right resources and equipment at your disposal can make all the difference. That's where emergency crash carts come in.

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Emergency crash carts, also known as code carts or resuscitation carts, are specialized carts stocked with a wide range of medical supplies and equipment essential for responding to various emergencies. From cardiac arrest to allergic reactions to respiratory distress, crash carts are an essential part of any hospital's emergency preparedness plan.

What Are Emergency Crash Carts?

Emergency crash carts are kept in central locations or emergency departments and are used in the event of a medical emergency. These carts are equipped with a wide range of tools and supplies necessary for emergency response and resuscitation efforts.

The contents of an emergency crash cart vary depending on what kind of trauma is being treated. However, they always contain at least some variation on these things:

  • Oxygen supply
  • Emergency medications
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Monitors
  • Life support equipment
  • Defibrillator
  • Disposal container
  • Blood pressure monitor

Crash carts are typically labeled with brightly colored markings, making them easy to spot in an emergency.

The carts are typically pre-stocked and organized, making it easy for medical staff to access necessary equipment and supplies quickly. Additionally, crash carts are mobile and easy to move around. Therefore, they can be transported quickly to the location of an emergency. 

Quick Access to Life-Saving Equipment in Emergencies

Emergency crash carts provide storage of lifesaving equipment in emergencies. They're typically stocked with medical supplies, such as trauma kits and first-aid kits, used to treat patients with life-threatening injuries.

The design of the cart allows for quick access to these lifesaving supplies in case of an emergency. The cart is mounted on wheels, so it is easily moved around the hospital or other facility where it's being stored. In addition, the cart has drawers that open from the side, allowing for quick retrieval of whatever supplies are needed.

Customization to Meet Different Needs

Emergency crash carts can be customized to meet the specific needs of different departments within a healthcare facility. Customization typically involves selecting and organizing the specific equipment and supplies needed for the department, as well as incorporating features that make the cart more user-friendly and efficient for the department's specific needs.

The carts can also be customized to include specialized compartments, shelving, or drawers to store supplies. Additionally, customization can also include adding or removing various features or functionality of the cart. It is also possible to customize the cart in terms of size, shape, and color, depending on the facility requirements and space available.

Timely Response to Emergencies

Emergency crash carts play a vital role in ensuring a timely response to emergencies in healthcare facilities. These carts contain all the necessary equipment and supplies needed for emergency response and are strategically placed in central locations or emergency departments to ensure they are easily accessible in case of an emergency.

Having emergency crash carts readily available can reduce the time it takes for a physician to respond to an emergency. Additionally, crash carts are mobile and easy to move around.

Furthermore, having a designated, easily recognizable crash cart can also help prevent confusion and delays during an emergency, as medical staff will know exactly where to find the necessary equipment and supplies.

Life-Support Capabilities

Emergency crash carts are life-saving devices that are always available in hospitals. These carts have all the equipment needed to treat a patient who has suffered a heart attack, stroke, or trauma. The cart is equipped with oxygen tanks, defibrillators and monitors, blood pressure cuffs, and other supplies.

In case of an emergency, the hospital staff could access them quickly to revive a patient or treat any injuries. This is especially important for hospitals specializing in emergency care or trauma centers because they deal with emergencies regularly.

Administration of Medications and Fluids in Emergencies

The administration of medications and fluids in emergencies is a crucial part of patient care. In an emergency, it can be challenging to administer these emergency drugs and fluids quickly and safely.

Emergency crash carts provide a way to quickly get medications and fluids into the hands of medical professionals. They keep medications and fluids cool and are compact enough to be easily transported.

Monitoring of Vital Signs

Emergency crash carts are designed to help medical professionals monitor patients' vital signs during an emergency, when the patient is in a critical condition or unable to provide information. The cart can be used to take readings of their heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature.

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The cart has various tools that are used in conjunction with each other to ensure that the patient's vital signs are monitored properly. For this process to be effective, all of these pieces must be near each other so they can be easily accessed if needed during an emergency.

Browse DSI Direct's Emergency Crash Cart Collection 

Emergency crash carts are vital to any hospital's emergency preparedness plan. By having crash carts on hand, hospitals can provide life-saving care in the event of a crisis and give patients the best chance of survival. If you're in the market for emergency crash carts for your hospital, we at DSI Direct are here to help. 

Crash Cart Management in Emergency Situations

Crash Carts

The crash cart is the commonly used term to describe a self-contained, mobile unit that contains virtually all of the materials, drugs, and devices necessary to perform a code. The configuration of crash carts may vary, but most will be a waist high or chest high wheeled cart with many drawers. Many hospitals will also keep a defibrillator and heart monitor on top of the crash cart since these devices are also needed in most codes. Since the contents and organization of crash carts may vary, it is a good idea for you to make yourself aware of the crash cart that you are most likely going to encounter during a code.

What is in a crash cart?

The size, shape, and contents of a crash cart may be different between hospitals and between different departments within the same hospital. For example, an adult crash cart is set up differently than a pediatric crash cart or crash cart on the medical service may be different than the one on a surgical service.

Medications

Medications are usually kept in the top drawer of most crash carts. These need to be accessed and delivered as quickly as possible in emergent situations. Therefore, they need to be available to providers very easily. The medications are usually provided in a way that makes them easy to measure and dispense quickly.

The common set of first drawer medications might be:

  • Alcohol swabs
  • Amiodarone 150 mg/3ml vial
  • Atropine 1mg/10 ml syringe
  • Sodium bicarbonate 50mEq/50 ml syringe
  • Calcium chloride 1gm/10 ml syringe
  • Sodium chloride 0.9% 10 ml vial Inj. 20 ml vial
  • Dextrose 50% 0.5 mg/ml 50 ml syringe
  • Dopamine 400 mg/250 ml IV bag
  • Epinephrine 1 mg/10 ml (1:10,000) syringe
  • Sterile water
  • Lidocaine 100 mg 5ml syringes
  • Lidocaine 2 gm/250 ml IV bag
  • Povidone-Iodine swabstick
  • Vasopressin 20 units/ml 1 ml vial

If the crash cart also contains pediatric medications these may be contained in the second drawer. Often these would include:

  • Atropine 0.5 mg/ 5 ml syringe
  • Sodium bicarbonate 10 mEq/10 ml syringe
  • Saline flush syringes
  • Sodium chloride 0.9% 10 ml flush syringe

The second drawer of the crash cart might also contain saline solution of various sizes like 100 mL or 1 L bags. A crash cart in the surgery department may include Ringer's lactate solution.

Intubation

Many crash carts will also include most of the materials necessary to perform intubation. These may be contained in the third or fourth drawers depending on the setup of the particular crash cart.

The adult intubation drawer will contain:

  • Endotracheal tubes of various sizes
  • Nasopharyngeal and perhaps oropharyngeal airways
  • Laryngoscope handle and blades of different sizes
  • A flashlight with extra batteries
  • A syringe of sufficient size to inflate the cuff on it endotracheal tube
  • Stylets
  • Bite block
  • Tongue depressors
  • Newer setups may also include the materials needed to start quantitative waveform capnography like a nasal filter line

Pediatric intubation materials may be in a separate cart or if they are included in the adult crash cart they may occupy their own drawer. The pediatric intubation supply drawer may contain the following:

  • 2.5 mm uncuffed endotracheal tube
  • 3.0 mm ' 5.5 mm microcuff endotracheal tubes
  • Pediatric Stylet (8 Fr)
  • Neonatal Stylet (6 Fr)
  • Nasopharyngeal and perhaps oropharyngeal airways,
  • Laryngoscope blades
  • Disposable Miller blades
  • Disposable Macintosh blades
  • Armboards of various sizes
  • Vacutainers for blood collection
  • Spinal needles
  • Suction catheters of various sizes
  • Bone marrow needles of various sizes
  • Feeding tubes
  • Umbilical vessel catheter
  • Disinfectants (swab sticks)
  • Pediatric IV kits

Intravenous lines

It is usually the case that the equipment necessarily to start an IV is in a separate drawer from materials needed to maintain an IV, such as the fluids in the tubing. The IV drawer(s) usually contain the following:

  • IV Start Kit
  • Angiocatheters 14 Ga and/or 16 Ga
  • Disinfectants (Chloraprep, Betadine, povidone-iodine)
  • Luer lock syringes of various sizes
  • Tourniquet tubing
  • Insyte autoguards of various sizes
  • Vacutainers
    • Blue top
    • Purple top
    • Green top
    • Red top
    • Spinal needles of various sizes
    • Regular needles of various sizes
    • 3-Way stopcock
    • Tape
    • Armboards
    • ABG syringes and sampling kits
    • Catheter tips
    • Tubing
    • IV solutions may also be kept in this drawer

Procedure drawer

The bottom drawer on crash carts is usually devoted to keeping prepackaged kits available for various urgent and emergent procedures (or it is where the IV solutions are kept). In any case, the following kits may be found in the procedure drawer:

For more information, please visit Emergency medical trolley.

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