Introducing the Rainbow Trays Stop Before You Block tray supporting the new Safe Anaesthesia Liaison Group, SALG Standard Operating Procedures and aligning directly to the new Regional Anaesthesia UK, RA-UK poster which deconstructs the regional anaesthesia process into three steps:- PREP, STOP, BLOCK.
The designated block tray supports the poster call-to-actions reminding the blocker and assistant to STOP at the point just prior to blocking. The poster provides clear guidance for the SOPs whilst the tray, in the hands of the blocker and assistant, re-enforces this message.
Inadvertent wrong sided peripheral nerve blocks are uncommon but can have serious consequences including complications from the unnecessary block such as nerve injury and local anaesthetic toxicity. At worst, wrong sided blocks can lead a team to wrong-site surgery.
In 2018 the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) investigated causes of wrong side regional anaesthesia block and invited SALG to formulate a standard national policy aiming to make any improvements on the familiar ‘Stop Before You Block’ campaign launched in 2011. Original guidance from SALG encouraged local variation and has been open to interpretation leading to checks being made at any time from the World Health Organisation WHO check list to 30-45 minutes later just prior to block placement. This new poster upgrades previous guidance to become a Standard Operating Procedure endorsed by SALG and RA-UK in a deconstructed approach identifying the three key steps: – PREP – STOP – BLOCK
The new designated block tray will act as a constant reminder to the blocker and assistant of the SOPs and the need to assign custody of the tray to the assistant until a conversation confirms block site. This human factor inspired design supports reduced cognitive loads for anaesthetic teams to mitigate the effects of distractions, time delays and missing or obscured operation site-marks to reduce the risks of wrong side blocking.
Bev Fawdington, Director at Uvamed Ltd, said, “As creators of the popular Rainbow Trays™ and Tamper Evident Rainbow Trays™, we were approached by the working party to develop Block Trays that would align to and support the ‘Prep, Stop, Block’ Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). The finished designated block trays are manufactured in the UK using PET which is bacteriostatic, they are reusable and 100% recyclable, best for infection control and sustainability and supports the circular economy and NHS Net Zero. “
Resources for SBYB can be found on the SALG and UK-RA websites https://www.ra-uk.org/index.php/prep-stop-block including copies of the poster, links to demonstration videos, SOP templates, summary of evidence and Anaesthesia editorial.
For samples or to purchase please contact Bev Fawdington at bev@uvamed.net
www.uvamed.net
www.rainbowtrays.com
