Your questions about medical supplies

Wize Guy answers:

I like Dickies brand. Allheart.com has pretty good deals on those.

Wize Guy answers:

Blood stored for use in transfusions is kept chilled in special refrigerators in a hospital blood bank. The bags are not shaken to avoid breaking up the red blood cells.

Wize Guy answers:

For medical supplies stores online, the markup typically ranges from 15-40%. It depends if the retailer stocks the product themselves or dropships direct from the manufacturer/distributor. I would imagine these numbers are higher for brick and morter stores.

We operate a medical supplies comparison engine which will allow you to find the low prices you are looking for.

Wize Guy answers:

Here are a few:

http://www.liberatormedical.com/medicareguide.asp

http://www.jandbmedical.com/shop/

http://www.medsupplyco.com/CustomerSupport/ProductQuestions.cfm

Many have free shipping and of course will do the medicare and supplemental billing for you.

Wize Guy answers:

I think EMTs in the field can do a needle thoracentesis for a tension pneumothorax, but that would be en route to the hospital, and has high risks. I really don’t think it’s within a nurse’s scope of practice, and he/she would risk losing their license doing something like that. i wouldn’t do it. As an ICU nurse I would use appropriate supportive measures (O2, assess, and call code if the pt stops breathing and get them intubated) call the doctor on the case, get a chest xray to confirm, and await further orders. I have had that experience before: a pt developed a pneumothorax, developed difficulty breathing, and the MD had to be called in to place a chest tube. Had the pt been unstable, the ER doc or any in-house doc would be there to place the chest tube. Hope your questions are answered!