Why Midmark’s Automatic Sterilizers are Top of the Line

Photo by Ousa Chea on Unsplash

Midmark makes top of the line automatic sterilizers that get the job done in record time. They’re a favorite of users for their customizability and range of uses and sizes. From the AUTOCLAVE, ULTRACLAVE AUTOMATIC 11″X18″ M11001M11 UltraClave® Automatic Sterilizer Steam 11 X 18 Inch Automatic Door B (Mfr# M11-022) to the AUTOCLAVE, STM W/MANUAL DOOR 9″X15″M9D AutoClave® Automatic Sterilizer Steam 9 X 15 Inch Manual Door (Mfr# M9D-022) there’s plenty to love about these sterilizers.

High Degree of Precision Control

There are several variables that go into your perfect sterilization procedure. The differences depend on your equipment and even your preference. Midmark’s Mfr# M11-022 allows you to control your process along four customizable axis!

Time is a huge factor with sterilization. You can set this to as little as three minutes, or as long as ninety! This wide range of variability makes it perfect for the many complicated needs of a lab. From hospital to research center, the Midmark automatic sterilizer will meet your needs.

Temperature is another important factor. Though the lowest setting is 230 degrees farenheights, you can program the autoclave to use temperatures up to 275. Delicate instruments will appreciate the lower temperature!

Dry time is a great way to optimize your workflow. You can skip the dry time entirely if the equipment doesn’t require it. You can also program your Midmark AUTOCLAVE, ULTRACLAVE AUTOMATIC 11″X18″ M11001M11 UltraClave® Automatic Sterilizer Steam 11 X 18 Inch Automatic Door B to dry for up to an hour. Have it ready for the next batch when you’re ready to put them in!

The last variable to consider is the venting speed of your autoclave. Choosing between quick venting and slow venting provides the final touch of control over your equipment. You can be mindful of your laboratory atmosphere’s needs during every aspect of sterilization.

Save Your Custom Cycles

If you’re enjoying the programmable features of your sterilizers, you will also enjoy that the Midmark Mfr# M11-022 allows you to save two custom programs! This saves a lot of time when you do a lot of certain kinds of sterilization in your lab. Instead of risking a mistake twelve times per day, simply ensure you’ve saved the correct program and access it with the touch of a single button!

Manual Options Available

The feautres of the Midmark Mfr# M11-022 have made it extremely popular, but its sister model is no slouch either! The Midmark Mfr# M9D-022, or AUTOCLAVE, STM W/MANUAL DOOR 9″X15″M9D AutoClave® Automatic Sterilizer Steam 9 X 15 Inch Manual Door offers you a slightly different size and features. The biggest difference is manual vs automatic doors! The automatic door is convenient, but a manual door ensures that any errors in sterilization will be the fault of human error, not the rare automatic mistake. Some people just prefer to take matters into their own hands. As the saying goes, “If you want something done right, do it yourself!”

Midmark’s automatic sterilizers are top of the line because they offer you fantastic choices. Choose how much you want to do yourself. Customize the sterilization process so it takes the amount of time and uses the temperature and venting style you want. There’s no wrong answer when it comes to Midmark.

What Makes a Baxter IV Stand Top Quality

Baxter IV Stand Photo by Martha Dominguez on Unsplash
IV Stand Photo by Martha Dominguez on Unsplash
Baxter IV Stand Photo by Martha Dominguez on Unsplash

Baxter IV Stands are one of the unsung heroes of the hospital. No one thinks much about them if they’re doing their job correctly. However, if something ever went wrong, it would instantly grind much of the treatment process to a halt. IV stands are used to give medications accurately while freeing nurses up to do other tasks. A useless IV stand is a labor shortage waiting to happen–which is why Baxter puts the top quality effort into their IV stands. Baxter IV stands are built to last!

Materials

Baxter’s rolled metal IV stands combine strength, sanitation, and mobility. This creates an IV stand that is light enough to move along with the patient, but sturdy enough to withstand daily use. People aren’t supposed to lean on their IV stands, but patients slip and grab whatever they can. While the Baxter IV is obviously not a crutch, the hard metal design allows it to be durable in an unpredictable environment.

The metal covering is also simple to clean, making it easy for nurses and staff to keep everything sanitized. The sleek metal design with minimal grooves allows for a quick and effective wipe down of the IV stand. No matter what the situation, your Baxter IV stand will be ready to use at a moments notice.

Mobility allows this IV stand to go where your patients go. Contrary to television dramas, you don’t have to sprint down a hallway with an IV stand every day. Nevertheless, Baxter IV stands are excellent for when you do have to move patients. The wide base with multiple, independently moving wheels prevents tip over. The IV stand can stay upright and move easily even if one wheel snags or hits a corner.

Simple Design

Baxter doesn’t overcomplicate the IV stand. It has a wide base for balance and function, and several bags at the top so you can hang multiple IVs. For patients who need multiple medications and/or saline, this spiraled octopus top is a perfect design. It keeps the bags hanging separately while still giving you room to add several others. This helps avoid doubling up on bangs from one arm. It also reduces the odds mixing up medications or disturbing ones in use when changing bags.

Baxter IV stands are a great example of high-quality hospital basics. You need IV stands. Baxter makes a stand that covers all the bases. It’s strong, easy to clean, and easy to move. The design aids the function and supports your support staff with organization and ease of use.

How Administration Sets by Bbraun Improve Hospitals

Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash

Administration Sets by Bbraun improve the function and organization of hospitals. This starts with the wide variety of drop sets offered by this major medical supplier. Hospitals can stock up with a product they’re comfortable with, in a brand that’s earned their trust. That factors in to greater medication accountability and lower nurse stress. It’s always a good idea to take a burden off of direct caregivers whenever possible.

Bbraun’s Diversity Allows for One Supplier for One Product

They have two standard sizes, for 15 drops and 60 drops, that cover the widest variety of patient needs. However, they do offer other drop sets ups, such as 10 drops. This range of products allows hospitals to turn to this brand over others. Establishing a familiarity with products can reduce wait time and save lives. Whatever size you need, Bbraun will have an administration set that fits your needs.

Administration Sets by Bbraun Improve Medication Accountability

To err is human, but hospitals don’t have the luxury to forgive these mistakes. One of the most common reasons for medical mixups is a simple lack of communication. One party makes an oversight, and the other doesn’t catch it, and it leads to a disaster.

Administration sets by Bbraun lower the risk of miscommunication. Since they come in prepackaged sets, it adds another layer of double checking to medicine administration. If someone is only supposed to have 20 drops, but they’re already fitted for a 60 drop administration set, it doesn’t match. This prompts the nurse to go back to make sure she read it right, and barring that, to make sure there was no miscommunication from the doctors either.

Reduce Nurse Stress

Nurses are the blood and bones of a hospital. Stress attacks nurses on the job. The hospital fails without them. More and more, however, struggle with the demands of the job. Administration sets from Bbraun essentially allow them to set a patient’s medication and check back when it’s all been dispersed. It reduces the amount of time they have to spend just observing the patient. This allows them to complete their rounds, and gets every patient more attention over all. When nurses can do everything on their plate, they’re less stressed and the hospital runs more smoothly.

Administration sets by Bbraun can help make your hospital a more efficient place. It adds a simple medical check to the medication delivery process. It reduces the need for nurses to actively give medication, and allows them to finish their rounds feeling more productive and less stressed. That’s always a great thing.

Hospira IV Sets Make Nutritional Supplementation as Exact as Medication

Photo by Martha Dominguez on Unsplash

Hospira IV sets like the Primary Nutritional PlumSet are making modern nursing better than ever. Today, the front line of nursing care has the ability to be more precise than ever. The fast paced environment of nursing requires accurate measurements that are easy to read, and above all, reliable. Hospira IV sets, from medication dispersing to nutritional PlumSet IVs, raise the bar with great construction. They’re also incredibly adjustable! They are part of a  latex-free environment.

Hospira IV Sets Focus on Construction

Hospira IV sets focus on assembling the best pieces into the most useful IV sets. They focus on whagt components will be useful. On their Primary PlumSet, they have a 0.2 micron filter, Clave Y-site, and a secure lock to keep it all in place. When you adjust a patient’s medication for dispersement, or their nutritional supplement for absorption, getting the dose correct is key. Hospira IV sets make setting the dose easy, and changing the dose accidentally through drift, movement, or the gradual loosening of less secure IVs, difficult.

Widely Used with an Exceptional Reputation

Hospira IV sets are high quality, and easy to use. This combines to make them a popular choice for hospitals, care providers, nursing homes, and more. Hospira has a trademark on many of their components. They’re not only a manufacturer, but an innovator! Putting your trust in Hospira IV sets is a sound move, and their wide line of IVs and other products makes them a great brand for unexpected needs. Even if you haven’t used one of their products before, you can trust in the quality of Hospira.

Latex Free

Latex allergies are on the rise in the medical field and around the world. Hospitals are ripe for latex allergies, as until recently just about everything was made from this versatile rubber. The FDA brought new regulation to latex in 2016, and since then many brands have voluntarily phased latex out of some of their products. Hospira IV sets are made without natural rubber latex. Removing this known allergen makes the product safer for hospital staff and patients alike.

Hospira IV sets are a wise investment. Between Hospira’s trademarked terminology and top of the line IV sets, you can find whatever your patients need. Cut down on the use of the natural rubber latex in a care environment and better working conditions for doctors and patients. Choose Hospira IV sets.

Why the FDA Made All Surgical Gloves Powder Free

Latex gloves

In January of 2017, the FDA banned powdered surgical gloves. The only gloves that can be used in surgery are now powder free. This represents a big win for surgical health. Many hospitals and brand name glove manufacturers were already manufacturing powder free surgical gloves. Some, however, don’t know the reason behind the big shift. The FDA rarely moves quickly, and there were studies coming out in the late 1990s that provided some scientific basis for the switch. In short, cutting the powder out of surgical gloves trims latex allergies and reduces surgical site infections (SSIs)–and the switch is easy to make.

Latex Allergies on the Rise

The rising number of latex allergies has been a cause for concern for quite a while. More and more doctors and nurses were suffering from latex allergies caused by repeated exposure. The allergy was also becoming more common in patients. Powdered gloves are more likely to cause an allergic reaction than powder free surgical gloves. The latex bonds to the powder, and then becomes airborne. This allows for ingestion and inhalation, and in turn a more serious allergic reaction. Powder free gloves don’t carry the same risk, as there’s nothing to disperse through the air.

More SSIs

Surgical site infections are common, and they’re one of the chief reasons behind slow wound closure. Even a minor infection can extend the recovery period for surgery! Powder from latex gloves can irritate the skin and the sensitive layers beneath. Though latex powder is not often the direct cause of an infection, it leaves the body vulnerable to bacteria and disease. Cutting out powder on surgical gloves cuts out quite a few SSIs.

Easily Controlled Risks

The FDA finally moved to ban powdered surgical gloves because the risks are easily controlled. There are other gloves that offer comfort and mobility to surgeons and the nurses who work with them in the operating theater. Ansell, a popular supplier of surgical gloves of both types before the ban, now has a line up of purely sterile, powder free, ready to use surgical gloves. Though surgeons might miss their preferred feel, that will quickly wear off.

All surgical gloves are powder free today. It was a choice that centered patient health, but also the health of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. With the advent of powder free surgical gloves, airborne latex powder has been drastically reduced. SSI rates will be lowered, and it was all as easy as switching glove styles.

GSA Contract Awarded to AAA Wholesale Company

GSA contract Photo by Michał Grosicki on Unsplash
GSA contract
Photo by Michał Grosicki on Unsplash

AAA Wholesale Company is the largest resource for medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, laboratory supplies, and equipment. We sell more than 250,000 different products. Manufacturer and brands trust us all over the world. We have more than a decade of experience, and the competition cannot compete in pricing. As of November 1, 2017, we received a government-issued document, a GSA Contract. We consider this contract a huge accomplishment for our company.

The GSA Contract

Once the government awards a GSA contract, it allows companies to sell more products and services worldwide, including to federal agencies. Some of these agencies include FEMA, DOD, and DHS. The contract itself has a fixed-term of five years. Once the contract expires, a company can reapply for additional years. Selling and delivering products is unlimited. Because more than one company can receive a GSA contract, multiple organizations can reap the benefits of providing services to the government at one time.

Receiving a GSA contract is not an easy process. It is very lengthy and extremely strict. One mistake will result in denial of your application, which can cost you money and a lot of time. A quick summary of how to win a GSA contract starts with downloading the solicitation package. Next, you formulate an offer and send it. Once GSA receives your offer, they analyze it and follow guidelines to keep your contract.

Next, to meet eligibility standards for a GSA contract, your business must be at least two years old. You also need to prove a healthy financial status, which means you need to show your profitability. Your services or products must fit under a GSA Schedule. A GSA schedule is a list of products and services that are eligible. For instance, if you are selling products, they must fall under TAA compliance. Basically, this means that your products must come from a manufacturer in the United States, or a TAA designated country. If you are selling services, you must have past experiences giving these services.

What a GSA Contract Means for Us

A GSA contract is an accomplishment itself, but the contract comes with many benefits. The possibilities of building your annual sales can result in making more than billions in annual sales. Additionally, the contract eliminates competition as customers choose government contracted businesses time and time again.  Moreover, your sale process is quick and straightforward, allowing you to sale to every federal agency. In certain situations, you can even sell to the state and local government.  Earning a GSA contract is a great way to expand your business.

Even though the process is tedious, long, and sometimes expensive, winning a GSA contract is well worth it. For us, at AAA Wholesale Company we are benefiting from the GSA contract in many ways. We are very excited for the opportunity to widen our selling horizon and bring in many new customers. Now we are not only the biggest and best; we have a government-issued document verifying that we are a reliable company with top-of-the-notch equipment and supplies.

Three Surprising Outcomes of the IV Solution Shortage

IV Solution Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash
Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash
Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash

The United States is still suffering from a shortage of sodium chloride injection bags. These hospital staples have been in short supply since the factories in Puerto Rico were affected by hurricanes in late 2017. Hospitals use IV solution for everything from rehydrating patients to dosing medications. Without them, hospitals and doctors have had to improvise. Here are three surprising outcomes of the IV solution shortage.

1. Hospitals Are Making Their Own IV Solution

Hospitals have what they need to make IV solution. 0.9% saline is not chemically complex. It is, however, a time-consuming process that most hospitals would prefer to avoid. The vast majority of 0.9% saline used in the United States was manufactured in Puerto Rico and shipped to the mainland. There are two factors to considers. First, factory damage and second, the lack of sound shipping practices. For these reasons, significant amounts of supply have dried up. As a result, hospitals have had to use their compounding pharmacies to create their own. More often than not, they’re still unable to meet supply demands.

2. Doctors are Rethinking Treatments

Not every doctor has access to a compounding pharmacy. Even if a doctor does, the supply still trails far behind the demand at the moment. This event has lead to doctors rethinking their treatments.

One of the most significant advantages of the sodium chloride injection bags is that they make it easy to give patients medicine. Hospital staff mix medication with the solution and the drip rate controls the administration. For nurses who are on a tight schedule, this is key. Without the injection bags, it becomes more difficult to dose patients. Doctors are rethinking how to administer drugs, and finding the dosing and schedule that works the best for their patients. In the months and years to come following this shortage, these alternate methods may be used to reduce dependence on sodium chloride injection bags in emergency situations, or even reduce them entirely.

3. It Influences The Future of World Saline Production

There are heavy regulations in the world of hospital manufacturing. There should be–lives are literally at stake. However, due to the pressing need of this emergency, the FDA has loosened some guidelines on the import of IV bags. These products are virtually identical and often made by the same company. Moreover, they often produce the bags in factories not typically approved by the FDA. As these bags perform well and ease the burden in the US medical industry, it calls into question the efficiency of some current claims. While government agencies do not always move quickly, it’s possible that this disaster could opperate as a trial run for a new, more responsive set of regulations.

The IV solution shortage is not a good thing, but it can bring good things with it. Doctors are thinking of new ways to treat patients. Hospitals are working on refining their pharmacy procedures to be more self-reliant. In the future, the solutions to our current problems may form the guideline to prevent the repetition these issues.

Sodium Chloride Shortage is Hurting Hospitals

Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash

Sodium Chloride, more commonly known as saline solution, is used in clinics and hospitals worldwide. Unfortunately, a recent disaster has left the world struggling to find the right solutions in the right amounts. Doctors are trying different tactics, which is affecting patient care across the globe. What comes next?

What Sodium Chloride is Used For

Sodium Chloride is a hospital and clinic essential. Most IV’s are partially saline. At its most simple, Intravenous IV Solution Flexible Bag 1,000 mL bags part #L8000 can be used to rehydrate a patient suffering from severe dehydration. The smaller bags, such as 500 mL bags part #L8001 and 250 mL bags part #L8002, are regularly used as a dosing mechanism for medications from painkillers to antibiotics and beyond.

A nurse mixes meds into a bag of saline, then attaches the bag to the patient’s IV. The rate of flow controls the rate of dosing, and the nurse is on to care for the next patient. It’s a quick and effective means of controlling the dose of a medication. With some bags, particularly smaller bags, being impossible to find at the moment, hospitals are scrambling to find another easy to way to administer meds.

What Disrupted Sodium Chloride Production

In a high tech world, it’s sometimes astounding that a low tech problem can throw the world out of order. Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico and left turmoil in its wake. Many medical manufacturers reside on the island. One of the largest brands of saline products has a factory there. Even though the factory itself sustained minor damage, production has still been slow. It’s difficult for Puerto Ricans to get to work and even more difficult to move products off the island. Doctors who need Preservative-Free Intravenous IV Solution Flexible Bag 1,000 mL bags part #L8500 can’t get it.

It could be months before sodium chloride production is back at its previous levels. Most hospitals are already out of their standard sizes and are looking for alternatives. When production does come back online, it will be to the relief of many.

Worldwide Response

The worldwide response to this crisis has been admirable. During the first weeks after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, the FDA gave permission for other plants to import their saline into the US, easing some of the burden. It’s simply not enough. Demand for saline hasn’t gone down; doctors still would prefer to use 250 mL bags part#L8502 by B.Braun than have their own pharmacies spend time compounding sodium chloride themselves.

Resourcefulness is the only response. Most centers with the resources have devoted themselves to manufacturing what sodium chloride they can on their own. Others, however, are looking for other ways to administer drugs that are effective, safe, and quick. Regardless, everyone is looking out for what may be rare tomorrow.

In most hospitals, getting Preservative-Free 0.9% Intravenous IV Solution Flexible Bag 1,000 mL bags part #L8000 used to be as easy as asking for it. But it’s not that easy anymore. As more hospitals treat their patients without or with less saline, doctors wonder what could be next.

How Ketone Test Strips Help You Lose Weight

Photo by Jennifer Burk on Unsplash
Photo by Jennifer Burk on Unsplash

A low carb diet is one of the most widely recommended methods of weight loss. Whether you need to control your weight to manage current health problems or are thinking ahead to probabilities on the horizon, it can be hard to know what to do. The goal of low carb diets is to put you into ketosis. This is a state where your body is depending on fats, not sugars, to provide for its calorie needs. Good thing you have a store of fat for it to use already, right? If you’re embarking on a low-carb or fully “keto” ketogenic diet, get ketone test strips like Precision Xtra, and get an extra tool to fight fat.

Data, Not Rules

One of the problems with diets is that it takes a long time to see results. People get tired, and they get impatient, and they may feel that these rules don’t make sense for them. When you’re following a diet plan and aren’t seeing results, you might as well be following a magic spell. You just have to have faith that it’s going to work. Ketone test strips replace faith in rules with actual evidence — even before you’re losing weight.

When your body burns fat, ketones are leftover. They’re a byproduct of fat-burning, like exhaust from a car burning gas. Whip out your Precision Xtra ketone test strips and you can see how you’re doing. Keep your ketones in the optimal range, and you know that your body is burning fat — even if you can’t see the results yet.

Consistent Measurement

Ketones don’t just appear in your blood. Your body excretes them in your breath and in your urine. Your blood is simply the most accurate way to test — and accuracy is key to any diet. The line between maintaining weight and losing weight is very thin, and getting something wrong could drag out your weight loss journey. If you think you’re making your calorie goal, but you’re actually overeating by 500 calories a week, you’ll probably still lose weight; you’ll just lose a pound less per month.

Measuring your blood ketones daily and consistently will allow you to keep your diet in check. You’ll have daily confirmation that what you’re doing is working. If it turns out that you’re edging too low on ketones, you know that you have to step up your diet efforts. If it’s too high, you know that you can afford to relax some. Either way, you have the information you need to take your weight loss into your own hands.

Having ketone test strips can give you the information you need to make informed choices about your diet and your weight loss. With Precision Xtra, you get high-quality test strips and high accuracy. You have data that your diet is working even when you don’t see yourself getting thinner. That boost and that knowledge will help you stay the course and lose weight.

Three Thermo Fisher Practices That Should Be Industry Standards

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

Thermo Fisher is a company that creates tools that save lives. They stand out from the competition in durability, quality, and precision. They also do more to connect to both the users of their machines and the “end users.” Thermo Fisher balances the needs of users and patients. Every company should be striving towards these attitudes and practices. By remembering its scientists, keeping the experience of the patient in focus, and not being satisfied with “good enough,” Thermo Fisher sets the bar high.

1. Remembering the Human Components of Science

Thermo Fisher remembers that scientists are the driving force behind science. They stay connected to the world of science through their blog. A recent blog post commemorates the Nobel Prize winners of 2017, for example. As more discoveries are made, more tools are created. Keeping the end user in mind provides better tool design.

2. Keeping Patients In Focus

Thermo Fisher designs many products for the medical field. Scientists use lines of precision cancer detection equipment in a lab, but the ultimate recipient is the patient. Test results govern the treatment of patients. The stakes are high: an accurate reading helps find the most effective treatment. Even though a patient’s experience with Thermo Fisher is one step removed from the product, it is even more important than a scientist’s.

In their blog, Thermo Fisher also provides links to studies on increasing patient cancer detection rates and discusses how the use of these sensitive equipment lines will save lives. Increasing the spreading of knowledge is valuable for its own sake, and this company uses their platform as an industry leader to link to studies that will influence patient care with or without the use of their equipment. That’s a dedication to their ultimate goals that other companies would do well to follow.

3. Always Pushing Forward

Thermo Fisher updates and expands their lines regularly. Through feedback from scientists and new discoveries in the field, they work to provide the most accurate results on all of their equipment. Additionally, they value forward progress even when an existing product works. If a new discovery provides a better way to do something, Thermo Fisher continues to find ways to improve and expand it.

Thermo Fisher is a great creator and distributor of medical and scientific equipment. Their philosophies of innovation and connection with the users and beneficiaries of their products set them apart. Finally, by never settling for last year’s success, they bring accuracy and success to the world one innovation at a time.