Grant Application

Tara Stickley, MSN, MBA, RNC-OB, CBC, and Amanda Arnone, MSN, RNC-OB, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital

Proposed Innovation

Postpartum hemorrhage, or severe bleeding after childbirth, is a very serious and potentially fatal condition. It’s a medical emergency that must be treated immediately. Not having essential supplies and medicine close by can lead to significantly higher blood loss and an increased risk of death.

This project aims to improve response times in these emergency situations by providing the UPMC Magee Birth Center with easily accessible postpartum hemorrhage rapid response units.

Improvements in Action

These units — mobile carts fully stocked with the critical supplies needed to respond to medical emergencies — will be located in three areas of the Birth Center. Each will have a locked refrigerator containing medicine typically used to treat postpartum hemorrhage. Other essential supplies will include an overhead light and a scale for calculating blood loss.

Intended Outcomes

According to research conducted by The Joint Commission, it takes an average of 11 minutes and 5 seconds to gather needed supplies — a potentially dangerous delay in responding to a bleeding emergency. Having mobile carts loaded with emergency supplies and medicine placed strategically in three areas of the UPMC Magee Birth Center is expected to save lives by cutting down the response time to just 2 minutes and 14 seconds.