Healthcare facilities across the U.S. are dealing with supply chain issues. One way Caresfield helps mitigate these issues is to make and store products domestically. We’ve been working to nearshore production of our disposable tourniquets. Nick Frugé, Caresfield vp of operations, recently appeared on the supply chain podcast Power Supply to discuss how Caresfield developed the first brightly colored tourniquets and the process for nearshoring production.
Excerpt From the Podcast
“During the early 2000s, Caresfield was selling latex tourniquets. They tended to be a standard latex color, kind of brownish or white. Latex allergies occur in about 12 percent of healthcare workers in the United States. There was a need in the marketplace to have something different. There are also leave-on accidents. In the worst case [patients] can die from sepsis. In most cases [leave-on accidents] could lead to nerve damage or loss of limb.
“So there were those two things that needed to be addressed. [Our owners] worked with tourniquet manufacturers to develop a non-latex tourniquet. Ours is made from TPE, a thermoplastic elastomer, which addressed the latex issue.
The other thing was the leave-on accidents. What can we do to make sure these aren’t left on? They were the first ones to develop and sell brightly colored tourniquets. Stop signs are red for a reason. Red lights are red for a reason. It’s a visual indicator. Our tourniquets are bright orange, bright yellow, bright green. It’s there to be the visual indicator for the healthcare professional to make sure they remove it. That’s kind of how we got into it. About seven years ago, we started on this journey of nearshoring our tourniquets.”
Listen to the Full Power Supply Podcast:
About Caresfield Disposable Tourniquets
Caresfield offers brightly colored disposable tourniquets in a variety of sizes. This flexibility helps your clinicians meet the needs of each patient. Standard tourniquets are available in smooth, textured or the multi-textured Versaquet™. We offer brightly colored tourniquets in infant, pediatric and bariatric sizes. Learn more about disposable tourniquets in these related blog posts:
- Disposable Tourniquets May Increase Patient Safety, Satisfaction
- Specialty Tourniquets Ease Pressures of Phlebotomy
- Disposable Phlebotomy Tourniquets: More than Just Big Elastic Bands
