Managing and keeping your medical supplies in a proper order may seem like an endless task that goes on forever, but it does not have to be that way. Different equipment might require different types of proper management, and knowing how to specifically take care of each one is a must.
Below, we will discuss how you can manage your surgical theatre lights and other medical supplies.
Keep Your Medical Kits Standardized
You should always keep your medical kits properly labelled so you and your colleagues would not get confused whenever you need to get something from it. This is especially important if you are in a hurry or you are dealing with an emergency, as you would not have to dig through the stash just to find one single equipment. If you have colleagues who speak another language, then you might want to label the equipment with the language that they speak, as the last thing that you want is to have language barriers during an emergency.
Be Familiar with the Items
If you have a couple of medical equipment that you are quite unfamiliar with, then now is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with it. Most medical equipment is wrapped individually, as they have to be perfectly sterile before use. If you are unfamiliar with the item/s and you need to find the right one in a hurry, then you might result to opening each one and throwing them in the bin if it’s not the right one.
Wastage is a common thing in the medical field, as everything has to be sterile. However, if you are familiar with the items, then you can effectively reduce wastage in your workplace.
Keep Them Protected
Most suppliers would not think to keep their medical supplies safely packaged in a box or a container, which is why it would be wise to remove each one from their boxes and keep them in a safer container instead. You can use a clear and durable see-through container to keep your equipment safe. Also, it would be much easier to see the equipment through a see-through container than to rummage through them inside a box.
Keep Your Inventory System Simple
If your inventory system is complex and confusing, then your first thought would be just to base it on a hunch rather than really go through it every single time. To keep things properly organized, you should take the time to create a simple yet effective inventory system. You can use barcode scanning to make sure that the medical providers will be able to track and order the items that are low in inventory. This also lessens the possibility of accidentally ordering unnecessary items.
Always monitor your supply orders and be strict with your ordering guidelines. Train your staff and tell them to ask for help if they need it. You can then review these guidelines after about six months of implementing it. This is to make sure that they are still effective or if you need to tweak a thing or two to keep the system easy yet effective.
