10 Medical Surgical Supplies Every Operating Room Needs
As a hospital manager or administrator, it may fall on you to ensure your hospital’s operating room is equipped with the right tools and equipment. Operating rooms are highly specialised areas of the hospital that require highly functional equipment for doctors or surgeons to perform operations effectively. As such, it is imperative that the operating room of your medical facility be fitted with the appropriate medical surgical supplies for the best results.
In this blog, we provide a checklist of the most important medical and surgical supplies required for use in an operating room:
- Surgical Table and Accompaniments
No operating room can be complete without a surgical table and accompaniments. Ideally, your surgical table needs to be height and angle adjustable and offer arm and leg support to allow you and your team to perform operations confidently and efficiently. You may also look for features such as safety straps, special cushioning and headrests if your facility regularly performs longer surgeries. Every medical facility needs a good surgical table, from dentist clinics to cardiology centres.
- Surgical and Exam Lights
Good, expansive light is an essential part of any operating theatre. A doctor or surgeon may perform critical surgery, requiring them to focus on minor details. Surgical lights allow them to see what they are doing, preventing mistakes and errors. Several high-quality surgical lights are available today, including ceiling-mounted, mobile, or surgical headlights.
- Infection Control Equipment
It is imperative that an operating room be kept clear of any kind of germs, viruses or bacteria, which magnifies the importance of using sterile, new consumables. But buying new forceps, scissors or retractors for every surgery is not feasible; this is why sterilisation equipment is necessary for any operating room. While it is true that you could pre-sterilise supplies before bringing them to the OR, but travelling through the corridors of a hospital could expose the supplies to an untold amount of germs and bacteria, which defeats the entire purpose of sterilisation.
By cleaning and sterilising supplies in the OR, hospital personnel can ensure that everything is pristine and hygienic.
- Disposables and Consumables
An OR needs an almost endless supply of disposables and consumables like face masks, gloves, biohazard bags, waterproofing pads, personal protective equipment (PPE), surgical sutures, dressings and adhesives. Your doctors or nurses should be able to change their equipment as and when needed without fear of running out.
- Clamps
Clamps are one of the most simple but highly necessary accessories that allow several other accessories to be attached to the surgical table. These include IV poles, anesthesia screens or arm boards. Clamps are available in several different styles and can be attached to different parts of the surgical table, but it is essential to test if the clamp you choose is the right fit for your table and accessories before purchase.
- Defibrillators
Although defibrillators will not always be necessary in every surgery, having one on hand can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes your medical team to respond in case of an emergency.
- Anaesthesia Screens
Many surgeries require the patient to receive conscious sedation, where they are awake but unable to feel the sensations of surgery being performed on them. In this case, an anaesthesia screen can separate the patient’s view from intimidating surgical supplies and the surgery itself. No one wants to see themselves being cut up, and such a view could be traumatising and overwhelming for the patient.
- Vital Signs Monitor
Another essential equipment in any operating room is a vital signs monitor. These allow the medical team to stay aware of the patient’s condition while performing surgery on them and to take appropriate measures in case any of the vitals start to drop.
- Head Supports
Although this might often be forgotten, head supports are vital for surgeries where the patient is expected to lie flat for a long period. Tilting the head up could allow the patient to breathe better, and different surgeries might require the head to be in a different position. Make sure to stock your operating room with different types and shapes of headrests for best results, such as a doughnut headrest for prone position surgical procedures.
- Emergency Power Backups
In an emergency, if the power goes out while you’re in the middle of surgery, an emergency power backup should be able to keep you going while you complete your surgery. Your patient might be hooked up to an oxygen machine, in which case losing power could be disastrous.
Paragon Care - Your Partner for Medical Surgical Supplies
Whether you’re looking for surgical consumables or common operating room products, Paragon Care has it all. With an extensive product portfolio containing medical surgical supplies like sterile tourniquets, patient support systems, surgical helmet systems, skin adhesives, gowns, masks, gloves and more, and medical devices like anaesthesia delivery systems, we can ensure that your OR is well-stocked with all the essentials.