Open four-shelf chrome wire unit sized for a small storage room

A crash cart is a storage problem with an unusually low tolerance for ambiguity: a fixed drawer layout, a security method that never delays opening, and a restocking routine that puts the cart back exactly as it was. This page covers the storage side of that – drawer modules, lock hardware styles, colour conventions, footprint and parking. Labs USA is a supplier and project partner, not the manufacturer. We supply Quantum Medical storage products, help configure them for the room and the workflow, and coordinate delivery and installation. Cart contents, response procedures and checking routines belong to your clinical and pharmacy teams; we do not advise on them and nothing here should be read as clinical or compliance guidance.

Red six-drawer cart with a side work surface and breakaway lock bar bracket
4-6drawer counts published for the platform
5cart colours listed by the manufacturer
5 inswivel casters published on the wider carts
Freeconfiguration and layout support

The drawer stack is the whole design

Everything else on the cart is negotiable. The drawer layout is not, because it is the thing people rely on under pressure.

The manufacturer publishes this drawer platform in four, five and six drawer configurations with a powder coat finish and a moulded work top. That range matters because the useful layout is usually a stack of shallow drawers for small packaged items over one or two deep drawers for bulky stock – not six identical drawers, which wastes height and hides things.

Drawer dividers and trays are the part teams under-order. A shallow drawer with no divider becomes a tray of loose packaging within a week, and then nobody can see a gap. Specify the divider layout at the same time as the cart, using the same bins and dividers you already use on the shelving so restocking staff are not learning two systems.

The wider carts are published with twin poly push handles and an outrigger stabilising frame with double wall construction; the slim cart is published with a side handle. Handles are worth checking against the corner the cart has to turn.

Beige five-drawer cart with a moulded top and side push handle

Security: breakaway-style lock bars and the alternatives

Three approaches are used on carts like these, and they trade off differently.

  • Breakaway-style lock bar — a numbered single-use lock bar across the drawer bank: the cart is visibly closed, opens immediately without a key, and the bar is replaced after use.
  • Key lock drawers — published on the drawer platform; suits carts kept in controlled rooms rather than open corridors.
  • Push-button lock with key override — published as mechanical push-button locking with a key override, for carts opened and closed constantly by different staff.

Whichever style you choose, the questions are the same: who replaces a used lock bar, where the spares live, and who checks that the number on the bar matches the record. Those are process questions, and a cart specified without answering them usually ends up unlocked. We supply lock bars and accessory hardware as separate quote lines so the consumable side can be ordered on its own cadence.

What we do not claim. We do not state or imply that any cart, lock style or accessory satisfies a standard, code, inspection or clinical protocol. We supply the manufacturer’s published product information and design to the criteria your team provides.

Colour conventions and finding the cart

The manufacturer lists beige, dark blue, slate blue, red and yellow, plus a two-tone option that pairs a beige frame with coloured drawer fronts. Used deliberately, that is enough to make cart type readable from the end of a corridor: one colour for this cart type, another for general supply carts, another for procedure carts.

  • Write the colour convention down once, per facility, and reuse it when carts are replaced. Ad hoc colour choices decay within two replacement cycles.
  • Keep the drawer layout identical across every cart of the same type on a campus, so staff moving between units are not relearning it.
  • Label the drawer fronts consistently – printed labels in label holders, not tape.
  • Give the cart a parking position, marked on the floor or the wall, and keep it out of the corridor clear width.
  • Check the route: doorway widths, lift depth and any threshold the cart crosses at speed. Larger casters roll over thresholds better; the published wider carts use 5-inch swivel casters, two locking and one directional.

Restocking workflow

The restocking routine decides whether the cart layout survives contact with the building. Two patterns work, and they need different storage behind them.

Exchange

A used cart is swapped for a made-up one and restocked centrally. It gives the tightest control over layout because one team builds every cart, but it needs float carts, a build area with the components on shelving, and parking for carts in and out of service. That is a central supply layout question as much as a cart question.

Restock in place

The cart stays on the unit and is refilled from a nearby clean utility room. Less float is needed, but the layout drifts unless the drawer plan is posted and the clean utility room is organised to match the drawer order – same sequence, same bins, same labels. When the room mirrors the cart, restocking is fast and errors are visible.

Three-shelf wire cart with a solid lower shelf and looped handleCart build and restock areaOpen wire carts move made-up drawer components and bulk stock between the storage room and the cart being built.
Four-shelf wire cart with a solid bottom shelf and swivel castersFloat cart stagingA solid-base shelf cart gives the build area a working surface and somewhere to stage components without using the floor.
Wire shelving cart fitted with large blue hopper bins for packaged stockComponent storage in binsBins on the shelving behind the cart, in the same order as the drawers, make restocking a matching exercise rather than a search.
Estimated figures only. Quantities, footprints and capacities we produce during planning are estimates for discussion. Final specifications and dimensions are confirmed on the quote and field-verified before installation.

Work out the cart, the parking and the room behind it

Send the drawer plan you want, the corridor or bay it parks in, and how it gets restocked. We will come back with a cart configuration, divider layout, accessory list and quote. The Room Designer helps place the carts and the storage that feeds them.

Resources

Crash cart configuration FAQ

How many drawers should the cart have?
The published platform comes in four, five and six drawer configurations. Most teams land on a stack of shallow drawers over one or two deep drawers rather than an even split, because shallow drawers keep small packaged items visible and countable. Write the item list first and count drawers second.
What lock should we use?
It depends on how the cart is checked and who opens it. Numbered single-use lock bars show at a glance whether a cart has been opened and need no key; key locks suit carts inside controlled rooms; the published push-button style with a key override suits carts opened many times a day. We supply all three as quote lines – the decision is your facility’s.
Are these carts sold to a particular standard?
We make no standard, code, certification or inspection claims about any cart we supply. We provide the manufacturer’s published product information and configure to the criteria your team gives us. Anything beyond that is your facility’s call.
Can we get every cart identical across a campus?
Yes, and it is worth insisting on. We record the model, colour, drawer layout, divider layout, accessories and lock style on the quote, so a repeat order two years later is the same cart rather than a near miss.
What colours are available?
The manufacturer lists beige, dark blue, slate blue, red and yellow, plus a two-tone option pairing a beige frame with coloured drawer fronts. Use colour to distinguish cart types rather than departments, and write the convention down.
Do you help plan where the carts park?
Yes, at no charge. Cart parking is a layout problem: every cart in your count needs a position that is not the corridor clear width, with a route that clears doorways and lifts. The Room Designer is the fastest way to test that before ordering.

Get a crash cart configuration and quote

Send the drawer plan, the colour convention and where the cart parks. You get a configuration with the manufacturer’s published specifications, a divider and accessory list, freight and lead time, and layout support at no charge.