Emergency equipment can be difficult to locate for staff who do not regularly use it. The theatre team play an essential role in emergencies; knowledge of where to locate equipment is vital in time-critical situations. We aimed to provide staff of all disciplines in theatres with a clear, easy-to-use method of identifying and locating emergency equipment at St Richard’s Hospital.

Methods

An anonymous survey was carried out in theatres/recovery, asking staff where they would locate various pieces of emergency equipment. The results were used to create posters demonstrating pictures of equipment and their locations (Figure1). Posters were displayed in theatre and recovery at St Richard’s Hospital and the same questionnaire was subsequently distributed.

Results

Staff knowledge of equipment location improved for every item following the introduction of the posters. All staff were able to locate the Cardiac arrest trolley, McGrath videolaryngoscope, and emergency buzzer. Notable improvements included staff’s knowledge of locations for intraosseous needle, paediatric airway trolley, "MAST" trolley, rapid intravenous Infuser, and dantrolene/malignant hyperthermia kit (all >40% improvement). When asked where to look to find the location of equipment they did not know, 86% of answers listed the posters.

Discussion:

The creation of posters has improved St Richard’s theatre staff’s knowledge of how and where to locate emergency equipment. Further teaching sessions are planned and the posters are also being implemented at Worthing Hospital. We hope this project continues to support staff during emergencies not only at St. Richard’s Hospital, but also at other sites within University Hospitals Sussex.