The emergency department crash cart: A systematic review and suggested contents

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As the field of Emergency Medicine grows worldwide, the importance of an Emergency Department Crash Cart (EDCC) has long been recognized. Yet, there is paucity of relevant peer-reviewed literature specifi cally discussing EDCCs or proposing detailed features for an EDCC suitable for both adult and pediatric patients. METHODS: The authors performed a systematic review of EDCC-specifi c literature indexed in Pubmed and Embase on December 20, 2016. In addition, the authors reviewed the 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care, the 2015 European Resuscitation Council (ERC) guidelines for resuscitation, and the 2013 American College of Surgeons (ACS) Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) 9th edition. RESULTS: There were a total of 277 results, with 192 unique results and 85 duplicates. After careful review by two independent reviewers, all but four references were excluded. None of the four included articles described comprehensive contents of equipment and medications for both the adult and pediatric populations. This article describes in detail the fi nal four articles specifi c to EDCC, and proposes a set of suggested contents for the EDCC. CONCLUSION: Our systematic review shows the striking paucity of such a high impact indispensable item in the ED. We hope that our EDCC content suggestions help enhance the level of response of EDs in the resuscitation of adult and pediatric populations, and encourage the implementation of and adherence to the latest evidence-based resuscitation guidelines. © 2017 World Journal of Emergency Medicine.