It's 1811, you're sick: In walks the doctor, clutching a black bag. It's 1911, you're sick: In walks the doctor, clutching a black bag. It's 2011, you're sick: In walks the doctor, clutching a black bag.
Although that iconic black bag might differ in size and contents than it did 200 years, the basic premise of the doctor's kit hasn't changed much at all. Doctors today are using oversized camera bags or plastic tool boxes to carry their medical equipment -- tools which aren't designed for cleanliness or safety. Which is especially disturbing when you realize this fact: According to a World Health Organization study, over one billion people worldwide now receive health care each year without ever going to a hospital. This is true not only in developing nations, where people may not have ready access to a hospital, but also in developed nations, where people living with chronic diseases receive much of their care at home. For the nurses, doctors and other caregivers in the field, that clinician's kit now has to work extra hard.
Royal College of Art Ph.D candidate David Swann created an INDEX Award finalist project, the 21st Century Nursing Bag to address these concerns for the health care field, creating a portable, standardized caregiving station which can save money, prevent overcrowding in hospitals, and keep patients healthier by not exposing them to possible infections from interactions with other sick people.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
