Medical Carts

Most hospitals end up with a cart fleet nobody planned: a code cart bought as an emergency replacement, a procedure cart inherited from a closed unit, a supply cart off a rep’s truck — and five years later nursing works around a dozen carts that share no drawers, keys or cleaning routine. The fix is deciding what each cart family is for before buying the next one.

This is the generic guide: the cart families and when each is right, how materials change cost of ownership, which accessories matter, how security works, and how to size a cart so it fits the room, aisle and elevator. We represent Metro and other healthcare cart manufacturers, so the guidance is application first, brand second.

MH-USA has specified healthcare storage and transport equipment from Salt Lake City since 1997, quoting single carts through full unit rollouts and shipping nationwide.

Pediatric resuscitation is dosed by weight or length, so the cart is organized by color instead of category. Drawers match a length-based resuscitation tape: measure the child, read the color, open that drawer for the airway, IV and supply sizes in that band. Color-coded drawer pull kits convert a standard cart body to the scheme.

Keep the chassis and drawer bank identical to your adult carts so keys, accessories and cleaning stay common; use shallower drawers with more dividers, because pediatric supplies get lost in deep drawers; mount the tape and reference card where the responder sees them first; and place a pediatric cart anywhere a child may arrive, not only the pediatric unit — in general hospitals most pediatric codes happen in the ED. Adult and pediatric carts must be distinguishable from across a hallway: different body color or a full color-coded drawer set, not a small printed label.

Endoscopy and scope transport carts solve one problem: a flexible endoscope must travel between the procedure room and reprocessing without a soiled scope touching a surface a clean scope will touch. Generally that means designated clean and soiled transport — separate carts, separate covered compartments, or a covered cart reprocessed between trips — plus labeling clear enough that nobody has to guess. Interiors must be smooth and wipeable, and the cart has to fit the doors on the real route. Follow your facility’s reprocessing policy and the scope manufacturer’s instructions for use; we quote the cart, you define the workflow.

Chemical transport carts move cleaning chemicals, reagents and lab consumables, so containment rules: deep-ledge shelves that keep a tipped bottle on the cart, polymer or stainless rather than painted steel, brakes that hold on your grades, and a look distinct enough that nobody repurposes them for patient supplies.

Breakaway seals answer readiness, not security. A numbered plastic seal through the drawer lock bar will not stop a determined person, but it proves no drawer has been opened since the last restock. Buy seals in numbered sequence, log the number at each check, and keep spares on the unit.

Keyed locks are simple and cheap, and they fail the same way everywhere: keys get copied, shared and lost until one key opens every cart in the building. Key by unit, not facility-wide, and keep a real key control log.

Keyless touchpads remove the key problem — codes change with staff turnover and auto-lock closes the cart if someone walks away, at the cost of battery maintenance and code discipline. Electronic locks and cart management systems add access logging, permissions and reporting; for controlled substances the audit trail is usually the deliverable.