Research
CODE-X™
Research toward a code cart that never waits for a plug: a rapid-release power system for code blue crash carts.
Every minute counts
In-hospital cardiac arrests happen about 292,000 times a year in the United States, and each minute of delay in resuscitation lowers the chance of success by 7–10%. Yet code carts are tethered to wall outlets, which adds an average 15-second delay before a cart can move.
CODE-X is our code cart rapid-release power system, designed to deploy fast while keeping equipment ready. The work is dedicated to Anita Dorr, RN, who created the first code cart, then called the “crisis cart”, in the 1960s (the patent went to Dr. Nobel), and to every nurse who runs to a code.
- 292,000in-hospital cardiac arrests a year in the U.S.
- 7–10%lower chance of success for each minute of delay
- 15 saverage delay from unplugging a tethered code cart
Study
Nursing perspectives on code cart operation
Summary report by PaceSetter & Associates for TAGCarts, Inc. Prepared by Jeanine W. C. Blake, MS, BSN, RN, and Karen K. Giuliano, PhD, RN, MBA, FAAN.
What was asked
How experienced acute care nurses see code cart mobility and safety. An anonymous 25-item online survey of 41 acute care nurses (average 8.5 years’ experience; about 16 codes in the past year), recruited directly and through social media.
What they said
- Must unplug
- 97.6% must unplug the defibrillator before moving the cart; 22% the suction
- Cords
- 58.5% unplug one equipment or master cord; 36.6% unplug two
- Forgot
- 29.3% have forgotten to unplug the code cart when responding to a code
- Fell
- 14.6% have seen equipment fall to the floor because it was still plugged in
Conclusion
The nurses felt safety would improve with better cart mobility and a quick-release power disconnect. Code carts should be designed with nurses and with human factors in mind: an opportunity for nurse-led innovation on the piece of equipment nurses know best.
Want to take part in this work?
If you and your hospital would like to learn more or collaborate on CODE-X, get in touch.