Cable and Fluid Line Management System

Justine W. Carter

Advisor:

Richard Fries, Datex-Ohmeda

Medical Errors

2000 report of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), entitled To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System

44,000 to 98,000 people die in hospitals each year as the result of medical errors.

Medical Errors - eighth leading cause of death in this country—

– higher than motor vehicle accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297), or AIDS (16,516).

The Cost of Medical Errors is Rising

The IOM report– approximately $37.6 billion each year

– about $17 billion associated with preventable errors.

– no unified effort to address the problem of medical errors and patient safety, awareness of the issue has been growing.

Medical Error - Adverse Event

An adverse event is defined

– "an injury caused by medical management rather than by the underlying disease or condition of the patient.”

70 percent of adverse events found in a review of 1,133 medical records were preventable;

– 6 percent were potentially preventable;

– 24 percent were not preventable.

Need for new reorganized cable and line system in the ICU

When patient is transported, moved, or turned over

– Cables become tangled and/or disconnected– Untangling cables is time consuming

– Misidentification of devices connected

– Results in medical errors

Dee Snyder, 2003

Dee Snyder, 2003

ICU equipment Considerations

IV pump - Water, sugar, vitamins, and medications are given

Ventilator - Oxygen

Feeding Tube - nose, throat, stomach, intestines nasogastric (NG) tube - nose, stomach

– removes food or liquids from stomach Moniter wires - connected from patient to machine

– heart, carbon dioxide,

Design System to Eliminate This Problem

Multiparameter Cable

Combines:

ECG,

SpO2

temperature

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Design Generalized Multiparameter Cable

Combine Cables for

– Heart Moniter– Cardiorespoiratry moniter– Pulse Oximeter– Carbon Dioxide Moniter– Respitory or Mechanical

ventilator– IV Pumps

Design Retractable Cable

Proposed Design for Cable and Line Centralizer

Current Status

Researched similar devices Contacted Dr. Bill Walsh,Neonatology Preliminary sketch Researching Retractable Cord

Future Work

Design final schematic Research product materials Research statistical information about medical

errors Re-Visit Medical Center Research Retractable Cord System

References

Medical Errors: The Scope of the Problem. Fact sheet, Publication No. AHRQ 00-P037. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/errback.htm

http://space.interactiveinstitute.se/projects/iva-projektet/readymadedesign%20final.pdf

http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/pediatrics/copingwithintensivecareunit/index.html

Dr. Steve Robinson

Dr. Bill Walsh

Intensive Care Unit patients connected to many cables and fluid lines