Hospitals need to be prepared for everything that might come through the doors. That’s why keeping the main pieces of medical equipment on-hand at all times is so crucial to provide full care.
There is a standard set of tools that all hospitals should have. This list of medical equipment can often be renovated as well as new, allowing hospitals to carry reserves for these critical pieces.
Hospital Stretchers
Moving patients is critical when dealing with hospital emergencies. This piece of equipment is a complete must-have for hospitals to keep on hand as patients route through their care.
Defibrillators
Commonly used in life-threatening conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias or tachycardia, defibrillators restore rhythms of the heart. They’re essential tools that a hospital every time needs backups for.
Anesthesia Machines
Anesthesia machines are designed to provide a correct and continuous supply of medical gases to maintain a patient’s proper painkillers level. Modern painkiller machines include added tools such as a suction unit, ventilator, and patient-monitoring devices.
Patient Monitors
Patient monitors are standard pieces of medical apparatus that keep accurate track of a patient’s condition and state of health after and during surgery. They are essential for adult, pediatric & neonatal patients.
Sterilizers
Hospital sterilizers kill all microbial forms, including bacteria, fungi, spores, viruses, and all other entities present on surgical tools and other medical equipment. An autoclave sterilizes instruments and supplies using high-pressure steam (saturated) for a short period.
EKG/ECG Machines
EKG (Electrocardiogram) Hines record the heart’s reality over time and allow health care providers to monitor the heart’s complete rhythm and identify any abnormalities.
Surgical Tables
Surgical tables are necessities for any hospital. For patient preparation recovery and surgical procedures, these pieces of equipment are essential.
Blanket and Fluid Warmers
 Body temperatures that are not sustained during surgery can lead to post-surgical complications and hurdles such as perioperative hypothermia, prolonged hospitalization, and an increase in infection and recovery risk. That’s why blanket and fluid warmers are so crucial for hospitals to have.
Electrosurgical Units
Electrosurgical equipment is used in surgery to coagulate, cut, or otherwise alter tissue, often to limit the amount of blood flow (BF) to an area and maximize visibility during surgery. This tool is crucial to cauterizing and minimizing blood loss during surgery.
Surgical Lights
 Surgical lights are a vital part of any surgical setting to assist surgeons in working under adequate lighting conditions.
Defibrillators, patient monitors, EKGs, surgical tables, anesthesia machines, sterilizers, lights, ultrasounds, and electrosurgical units, blanket warmers are all necessary hospital tools. Keeping these on hand is vital to the operational success and the health benefit provided within it.
FHC (Future Health Concepts) has been serving the community with new and refurbished medical equipment for forty years. Our primary refurbished products are washers/disinfectors, sterilizers, and operating room tables. Other quality renovated medical products are anesthesia machines, defibrillators, patient monitors, ESU, rigid and flexible video systems, and many other products. Clients’ satisfaction is of the most importance to us. We will work to excel your expectations and wishes regarding equipment needs to develop a long-term relationship with your facility.
Stethoscope
 That is perhaps the most famous. It has become an occupational symbol for doctors and nurses. Many carry one around with them. A stethoscope can be easily found in the bag, car, home, or even hanging on the neck of many health workers.
There’s even a funny history about its invention by a French physician who was uncomfortable placing his ears directly on the chest of a female patient (it was common for doctors to put their ears on the chest of patients to listen to their hearts and lungs).
Stethoscopes help doctors listen to different body sounds of patients. They can check for heart sounds, lung sounds, or even bowel sounds in the abdomen. They can also be used to prevent blood pressure manually with a sphygmomanometer. (I wrote a detailed stethoscope review, you can check it here.)
Nowadays, stethoscopes look a lot different from what they looked like shortly after being invented. Those days, they looked like trumpets, with one earpiece. Today, we even have digital stethoscopes that can pick up very low-frequency sounds and amplify them loud enough for doctors and patients to listen to. Some brands even come with functions like Bluetooth connectivity and sound recording.\
Sphygmomanometer
 This device is used to check blood pressure and comes in two types: the manual one and the digital one.
The type that is perhaps more popular in hospitals is the manual one. It often works with mercury. When a cuff is applied to a patient’s arm and then inflated, the pressure rises in the arm and cuts blood supply at a specific pressure. A stethoscope is then used to identify individual sounds (Korotkoff sounds), which the health worker uses to determine a person’s blood pressure. The pressure is usually read off a calibrated gauge.
The digital one is fancier. It comes with an electronic screen, battery or AC powered and did not need a stethoscope. Another exciting thing about digital ones is that they can be used at home alone without needing anyone’s assistance.
Blood pressure readings usually have two numbers separated by a ‘/,’ looking like this: XX/YY.
The number on the left is called the systolic blood pressure (the blood pressure when the heart contracts), while the number on the right is the diastolic blood pressure (the blood pressure when the heart relaxes).
Pen Torch
 One may wonder why this tool is on this list. But if you look carefully at your doctor’s table, you may see something that looks like a considerable pen. It is a very vital tool for the assessment of patients.
It is used to examine the eyes (check for pupillary reflexes). It is also used to look at orifices like the mouth and nose. In the mouth, it can be used to check the gums, tongue, teeth, and tonsils. Tonsillitis is quite common, and you can not see a person’s tonsils clearly without illuminating them with a light source, preferably from a pen torch.
Measuring Tape
 In medicine, accuracy and precision are very important. Whether it is to measure the size of a baby’s head to see how well the child is growing, to measure the abdomen of a pregnant woman to assess the baby’s development, or to check the size of abnormal swelling, measuring tapes are essential tools in a hospital or clinic.
You are very likely to see it out in the open if you visited an obstetrician during an antenatal clinic.
Reflex Hammer
 It may not be the hammer you imagine, and it does not use it to break stuff. Instead, this unique tool has a firm or rubber head used to check for reflexes in the nervous system.
For instance, certain diseases like stroke and diabetes can cause problems in a person’s nervous system. Reflex hammers can be used to gently hit tendons that cross certain joints like the knee and ankle to see if the muscles will jerk under reflex.
Otoscope
When you hear the word ‘oto’ in medicine, it usually refers to the ears. For example, otolaryngologists are doctors who specialize in treating the ears, nose, and throat. In the same vein, otoscopes are devices used to examine the ears.
They usually have a light source, handle, and a lens through which a doctor can peep into the ear canal to view the eardrum (tympanic membrane).
They can be used to diagnose conditions like earwax blockage, otitis media, and to investigate others.
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