Medicine is an ever-changing ecosystem. As technology improves, new equipment is created that performs better, is safer, and easier to use. However, some devices withstand the test of time and have been with us for decades and its design will be with us into the future, albeit with some modern touches.

You arrive at the scene of the accident, where it was reported a young man was struck by a pickup truck while crossing a busy road. Approaching the scene, it’s clear he has likely suffered significant injuries. The truck’s windshield is cracked, and the patient has facial trauma and splayed limbs. You immediately begin to inventory the situation and start assessing whether the patient needs to receive a spinal immobilization. 

We’re heading into winter soon, with temperatures dropping, snow falling to the ground and people planning warm weather getaways. Regardless of the climate, however, emergency medical personnel must navigate a host of patient emergencies, while also protecting themselves and their equipment from adverse weather conditions. 

Maintenance, Practice and Preparing for Different Patient Scenarios

There are many unpredictable outcomes that can occur during airway suctioning, so it’s important to practice with a range of different products, techniques and practice codes when conducting trainings with your team. Using training equipment that allows for realistic simulations of emergency suctioning scenarios will arm your team with the strategy necessary to perform treatment steps effectively and accurately in various high-stress situations.

At SSCOR, we pride ourselves on providing suction that lasts — both in our devices’ consistent performance during each use and the machines’ long lifecycles. 

Each of those characteristics are enhanced with routine maintenance, of course. Emergency medical personnel are well aware their equipment must remain as close to new condition as possible — and, not to mention, sanitized.

Hospital disaster preparedness is so much more than simply writing out a series of steps to be taken in an emergency situation. It’s not something to be done once and then forgotten until needed. Instead, once the plan is created, it should be periodically evaluated, tested, and updated to fill any gaps. We recommend examining your plan at least once every two years.

There are a few different ways that your hospital can audit its plan. These audit methods have varying levels of complexity, but all of them will serve to strengthen your hospital’s current disaster preparedness plan.