crash cart
A portable emergency supply unit in a dental anesthesia setting stocked with drugs, equipment, and devices required to manage life-threatening anesthetic or medical emergencies.
Full Definition
The crash cart (also called emergency cart or resuscitation cart) in a dental anesthesia context is a designated mobile unit that consolidates all critical emergency resources in one accessible location. Standard contents include an automated external defibrillator (AED) or manual defibrillator, epinephrine, atropine, diphenhydramine, nitroglycerin, glucose solutions, airway devices (bag-valve-mask, supraglottic airways, laryngoscopes), suction equipment, and reversal agents such as flumazenil and naloxone. Regulatory inspection standards often mandate a written inventory, regular inspection logs, and documented expiry-date checks for all contents. Editors reviewing emergency protocol documents must verify that crash-cart contents align with current AHA and AAPD guidelines. The term is hyphenated in most editorial style guides but may appear as two words ('crash cart') in institutional documents.
Usage
Usage note: Hyphenate as 'crash-cart' when used as a compound modifier (e.g., 'crash-cart inventory') and leave open as two words when used as a noun (e.g., 'the crash cart was checked'). Confirm house style, as practice varies.
In Context
- "The anesthesia permit application required submission of a crash-cart inventory log signed and dated within the previous 30 days." — Dental board permit application
- "During the office inspection, the evaluator asked the clinical team to demonstrate they could locate and access the crash cart within 10 seconds." — Office-based anesthesia inspection protocol