September 9, 2021

Transporting Medical Supplies

Medical Couriers bear the critical responsibility of providing delivery services for different healthcare systems and facilities. Transporting everything from thermometers to MRI machines, these couriers directly impact operational success, and ultimately, patient care and outcome.

Hospitals and labs can’t function without the correct supplies and require a tight schedule with no room for error. If a medical courier wants to live up to these strict standards and play a reliable role in healthcare logistics, they must understand and operate under the following best practices.

Medical Equipment

Size, weight, and fragility are significant factors when transporting equipment such as diagnostic appliances and rehabilitation devices. For example, hospital beds and x-ray machines are massive and heavy, requiring expert care and handling while in transport.

Even when broken down into smaller, more manageable parts, medical couriers must be equipped with tools to ensure that pickup and delivery aren’t safety hazards. Extraordinary cargo requires unique, streamlined solutions, and that’s why it’s essential for healthcare systems to employ experienced, prepared medical couriers.

Medical couriers don’t simply pick up soiled bins, too – they can only take containers with zip ties. Zip-tied containers mean that medical staff prepared them for transport. Medical couriers must visually inspect the bins as well to ensure hazardous spills and leaks won’t occur.

When moving medical equipment, medical couriers need to maintain records for their inventory. It helps them track their available containers, ensuring every instrument possesses its traveling shell. As a general rule, sterile and contaminated equipment should travel in separate vehicles unless a vehicle contains a partition that can prevent cross-contamination. All containers include clear labels to ensure drivers know the equipment they’re handling.

Surgical Tools

We’re talking about scalpels and instruments that will eventually be in contact with or used inside human bodies. Medical couriers must take appropriate measures to ensure these products remain sterile while in transport. Proper storage in excellent packaging is vital to keeping these tools safe and clean so that medical professionals can use them to save lives.

They also need to be protected from excessive movement and moisture. Surgical instruments have an earnest and specific job to do, and being jostled or exposed to humidity could alter the integrity of their performance. Medical couriers must possess adequate transportation carts to prevent the tools from falling or receiving damage.

Pharmaceuticals

Medicine and drugs must be packaged in a way that prohibits exposure to light, humidity, extreme temperatures, and human tampering. The courier’s vehicle needs advanced temperature and climate control technology, and different medications need to be stored at different temperatures.

The vehicle and team must be prepared to accommodate varying unique conditions, too. Medical couriers receive thorough training about bio-hazardous material handling, spill cleanup procedures, and bloodborne pathogen exposure to ensure they’re highly prepared for their tasks. Vehicles transporting pharmaceuticals are often standard cargo vans or equivalent vehicles with about 250 feet of storage capacity.