Sponsored by Bound Tree Medical
This article was originally posted here on Bound Tree University.
By Sarah Calams for EMS1 BrandFocus
Imagine this: You’re in the back of the rig and your patient’s airway is compromised. You quickly search for the correct supplies and come up empty-handed – grabbing a handful of airway options that are not right for your patient’s needs.
This scenario is, without a doubt, dangerous. It could also lead to life-threatening results.
Because time is of the essence in emergency situations, Bound Tree has created pre-assembled kits to support immediate response that is tailored to your providers’ and patients’ needs.
Instead of rummaging around for the correct supplies and wasting already limited time, Bound Tree’s airway kits, which feature an assortment of products based on a patient’s needs and type of procedure, provide a solution in one package. The kit is strategically created and packed with supplies EMS providers need in order to save lives.
This example is just one of many reasons why EMS agencies are using pre-assembled kits to accelerate their care. Wondering if kitting is the right solution for your agency?
Here are four ways premade supply kits can benefit your EMS agency:
1. Kits are budget-friendly
Every EMS agency – no matter how big or small – has experienced and can relate to budget woes. Curaplex, Sarnova’s private label brand, offers a wide selection of kits at an affordable price point. These products not only meet the vast range of EMS providers’ needs but also provide significant savings compared to name-brand supplies without sacrificing quality.
The kits include components selected to provide the best possible solution for a specific purpose. For example, Stop the Bleed kits are becoming widespread as more agencies realize the importance of adding public access bleeding control products to their arsenal.
2. You’ll be able to provide care faster and streamline your protocols
ALS or BLS – it doesn’t matter. Kits can help streamline protocols no matter the service or response your agency is purchasing supplies for. For example, the Curaplex GO-PAP Capno Kit combines a disposable emergency CPAP mask with an etCO2 sampling line for capnography.
The main driver of this kit is the compliance aspect. It’s teaching and prompting an EMS provider that every time they put the CPAP mask on the patient, then they need to immediately put on the sampling line because it’s in the same package.
Bound Tree created the kit thanks to direct customer feedback. EMS providers identified the simple yet critical solution – the need to pair these two items together in one kit.
3. Kits make ordering and managing inventory easy
EMS agencies must order hundreds of items to be adequately supplied for any emergency, but it’s easy (and frustrating) to over-order or even forget to order the correct amount of supplies. Curaplex kitting solutions provide SKU consolidation that does the work for your agency and provides a solution to your ordering and inventory management troubles.
SKU consolidation means you don’t have to remember all the individual items needed for each situation. Instead, agencies can order one item number and the kit comes with all the needed items already enclosed. Each kit includes a label with the item description that also identifies each item and its quantity.
“For example, say a customer wants an IV Start kit. Instead of ordering a box of IV tourniquets, IV dressings and an extension set individually, they can order a kit with all of those components included under one part number versus having to order four separately and still build the kit themselves,” said Emilee Roberts, Curaplex product manager.
4. Kits make it easy to keep track of expiration dates
Expiration dates can be a real challenge for EMS inventory management. The expiration date of a Curaplex kit, which is driven by the component with the earliest expiry, is labeled on the front of each kit. In addition, each kit is assigned a Unique Device Identifier (UDI), a bar code the FDA expects to be on all kits by 2020 to efficiently track product origin, lot and expiration, among other product identifiers.
“The UDI will make product recalls faster and easier,” said Roberts. “If a kit or kit component is found to be defective, the UDI label will communicate the exact origin of the device, as well as its lot number and expiration date in some circumstances. “
Additionally, Bound Tree’s kitting warehouse is ISO 13485 certified and complies with FDA manufacturing requirements. From the moment supplies are ordered to when the kit is produced and finally shipped out, each component is monitored throughout the process to ensure that the best quality management system is in place.
Does your agency use premade kits? Learn more about how this approach can help your agency better prepare for emergency situations.