Development of an Obstetric Hemorrhage Response Intervention: The Postpartum Hemorrhage Cart and Medication Kit

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal morbidity in the United States, and timely treatment is imperative. Delay in treatment of PPH can lead to significant blood loss and increased morbidity and mortality. Supplies and medications essential for treating PPH are typically not located in close proximity to the hemorrhaging patient, leading to inefficiency and delay in timely response to hemorrhage.

An in situ hemorrhage simulation was created dictating the collection of a prespecified list of supplies commonly used in response to PPH on labor and delivery (L&D). Baseline data were collected, then Lean Six Sigma tools were used to construct a process map, including recording times and cumulative distance traveled for collection of each item. The simulation was repeated after development, creation, and deployment of each intervention. For the first intervention, a PPH cart was created containing the supplies most used in response to PPH. Second, a PPH medication kit was created consisting of a refrigerated box containing all medications typically administered during a PPH.

The average time to collect a prespecified list of supplies and medications in response to a PPH scenario was 11 minutes 5 seconds (standard deviation [SD] = 3 minutes 33 seconds), with an average cumulative distance traveled of 4,092 feet. Following Intervention 1, the time decreased to 4 minutes 0 seconds, with 918 feet traveled (only one trial performed). Intervention 2 further reduced the average time and cumulative distance to 2 minutes 14 seconds (SD = 16 seconds) and 462 feet, respectively. This represents a 79.8% reduction in time and an 88.7% reduction in distance from baseline to postintervention.

A PPH cart and medication kit can significantly reduce the amount of time and distance traveled to obtain materials necessary to treat hemorrhage, thus optimizing a team's ability to efficiently treat PPH.