Distribution of Health Supplies
• Drug orientation---- patient orientation
• Specialised services provided by pharmacist
• Includes provision of health accessories or information regarding
them.
• Items that improve the quality of life of patient and provides them
maximum physical independence
• Named as parapharmaceuticals
• A separate section can be established
• Stocking of all items can be costly so alternatively only important and
most used items are stocked.
• Pharmacist must have knowledge about them which he gets from
manufacturer literature, training from manufacturers or catalogues.
• Parapharmaceuticals are divided into
• Convalescent aids
• Home diagnostic kits
• First aid supplies
Convalescent Aids
• Includes ambulatory aids (wheel chairs, walkers,
and cans and crutches), hospital beds, patient
lifters, and orthopedic braces.
• Ambulatory aids
• Canes
– Are simple and light weighed wooden or metallic
devices that may be adjustable and serves for
• Weight transfer: means to transfer weight
Off the weak limb
• Balance: provides balance by providing adjusting
The centre of gravity
• Crutches:
– Used by patient with temporary disabilities
(fractured) or by patient who requires more
support than canes
– Made of wood or aluminium
– Size depends upon patient comfort zone
• Walkers
– Light weighed devices that are made of metal
tubing
• Types
– Non wheeled walkers
– Wheeled walkers
• Also called rollator walkers
• Bed aids
• Hospital beds and accessories
– Manual or electronic
• Mattresses
• Bed safety rails: support from falling
• Trapeze bars
• Bed pans
• Patient lifters
Orthopaedic braces
Orthopaedic braces and surgical fittings Limit body movement, so
promote proper body alignment.
• Back support
• Cervical Collars
• Shoulder immobilizers
• Clavicle support
• Tennis elbow
• Wrist braces
• Arm slings Wrist Braces
• Rib belts
• Abdominal support
• Knee braces
• Knee immobilizers
Back Support Cervical Collar Shoulder immobilizers
Clavicle support Tennis Elbow
Knee immobilizers
Home diagnostic Aids
• Thermometer
• Self care test kits
– Not accurate and not substitution for laboratory
tests
– Pregnancy kit
– Ovulation kit
– Glucose test kit
– Ketone test kit
– BP monitors
First aid box
• Hot water bottles
• Electric heating pads
• Cold application
– In deep inflammation-----heat or cold
– Ice cap
– Tonsillectomy ice bag
Surgical supplies
• A surgical instrument is defined as “ a specially
designed tool/ device which performs specific
action or which is used during
surgery/operation to modify biological tissue
or to provide access to view a biological
tissue”
Nomenclature of surgical instruments
• On the basis of kind of surgery
• On the basis of name of inventor
• On the basis of description of action it
performs
On the basis of kind of surgery
• Tracheotome (trachea cutting or taking piece)
• Surgical forceps (used for holding grasping objects)
• Surgical staples (used for replacing/ closing the skin
wounds
• Tyndallors (to hold damaged tissue of brain
• Scopes and fibres (endoscope, optical fibre)
• Surgical dressing (includes bandages, ,may be
impregnated or plane guaze)
• Suction tubes, needles syringes, blood bags, and urine
bags
On the basis of name of inventors
• Kocher forcep: Kocher Emila Theodar (1841-
1917). German surgeon, specialised in surgery
of thyroid and goiter
On the basis of action
• Scalpels
– Pointed knife, used to cut tissue and having
straight handle and usually detachable and
disposable blades
• Hemostat
– Also known as artery forceps and used for holding
and grasping of different tissues
• Surgical dressings
– Covers all materials used for dressing of wounds
or injured or diseased tissues to provide a healing
environment.
• Primary wound dressings
– Direct contact with the wound
– May provide absorptive capacity
– Prevent dessication, infection and adhesion of
secondary dressing to the wound
– Plain guaze, impregnated gauze (petroleum,
paraffin and vaselline).
• Secondary wound dressing
– Intended to be placed over a primary dressing, providing
further protection, absorptive capacity and compression
– Absorbents
• surgical cotton
• Rayon (regenerated cellulose, made of cotton fibres, more softer than
cotton)
• Surgical gauzes
– Bandages (holds dressing in place and provides support, may
be elastic, inelestic or become rigid after shaping for
immobilization)
• Gauze roller bandages
• Muslin bandage rolls
• Elastic bandages
• Crepe bandages
– Adhesive tapes
• Suture and ligatures
– A strand or fibre used to hold wound edges with
the help of a needle in a position during healing is
called medical suture
– When such material without a needle, is used to
stop bleeding by tying off severed blood vessels,
the strand is called a ligature
