A few months ago we were contacted by Dr. Vega Murga Herrera of the Hospital of Salamanca, Spain. She had a very simple request for us, so that she could enrich an article: images of trolleys with colour-coded drawers.
The article was recently published on the online publication of the Spanish society of extra-hospital paediatrics and primary care (sociedad espanola de pediatrìa extrahospitalaria y atenciòn primaria) and is located at this address:
At Francehopital we have always been committed to assimilating “best practices” from the healthcare world, transferring acquired knowledge into our products. In some cases we have also set standards, for example with sharp waste containers or trolleys for dirty laundry.
It was a pleasure to respond to Dr. Murga Herrera’s request. And writing about it here is one of those opportunities to sow healthcare culture: it is our modest contribution to continuing education.
The Broselow-Luten colour code
The Broselow-Luten tape is an aid in paediatric emergency medicine. It is a fast and efficient system for determining the weight of a child based on its height, so that the medication can be administered in the correct dosage. The height, and therefore the weight, are indicated with a colour. The operator determines which colour group the small patient belongs to and finds the emergency medicine with the correct dosage (and the correctly sized ventilation and intravenous kits) in the corresponding colour drawer. In Dr.Murga’s article this corresponds to photo #2.
Other hospitals use a color code that identifies 1) materials to access the airways, 2) materials to access the vascular system and 3) emergency medicines. In Dr.Murga’s article this corresponds to photo #1.
