Creating a Patient-Friendly Bloodmobile

Bloodmobiles are an excellent way for medical centers to increase their blood donation reach. These mobile medical units allow you to travel to office parks, shopping centers, universities, and other locations to host blood drives. The end result is that your medical team can collect more life-saving blood donations in any given week, helping to ensure that your blood banks remain well-stocked. With the recent severe shortage of blood across the U.S., these mobile medical units are needed now more than ever.

When creating a bloodmobile, the goal is to design a space that will be welcoming to blood donors. The beauty is that a custom bloodmobile can be designed to your exact specifications, allowing you to create the most patient-friendly space possible. Let’s take a look at the best tips for creating a patient-friendly bloodmobile that will become an inviting location for blood donors to visit.

Tip 1: Put Donor Privacy First

When a donor arrives at a blood drive, the first thing that will take place is a screening process. During this process, donors will be asked to fill out paperwork, answer questions, and undergo a quick medical examination to ensure that they are eligible for donation.

Throughout the screening process, the goal should be to ensure the privacy of your donors. Answering medical questions can be a sensitive experience, which is why you want your medical team to be able to screen each donor in a quiet and private setting.

For this reason, the first portion of your bloodmobile design should be focused on the screening process and ensuring the privacy of donors during this part of the experience.

You can create a private experience by designing an intake area where seating is spaced amply apart. Partitions can help add to the privacy, and modern technology and equipment can make it easier for your medical team to gather donor information without lengthy or in-depth conversations.

Tip 2: Look for Means of Distraction

Those who donate blood do so because they care about their community. After all, a single donation of blood can save up to three lives.

However, just because blood donors are passionate about helping others through their donation doesn’t mean they relish the thought of giving blood. In fact, for many donors, the process is scary, uncomfortable, and potentially even nauseating. Many donors are reportedly scared of needles, worried about fainting, or are concerned about how they will feel after giving blood.

For this reason, when designing your custom bloodmobile, think about how you can distract donors from their fears.

One effective method for helping blood donors get through the process of donating blood is by installing televisions throughout the donation area. Here, movies, shows, or local news can be played to help distract donors from the actual process of giving blood.

Additionally, make sure that blood storage is hidden away from donors, so that the sight of blood does not contribute to their discomfort.

Tip 3: Ensure a Restful Experience

During and after giving blood, you want to ensure that your donors are comfortable and relaxed. Make sure that as you design your bloodmobile, you look for ways to make the experience more restful.

The following are all layout ideas that can contribute to a more comfortable donation process:

• Comfortable seating in your waiting area: During the waiting process, your donors might feel nervous. Providing comfortable seating can help them remain calm and relaxed.
• Magazine and book racks in your waiting room: Offering reading materials or other means of distraction can help keep donors relaxed as they wait.
• Comfortable seating in the donation area: Once your donor sits down to give blood, you want to ensure they are as comfortable as possible. Invest in quality seating with padding and the option to lean back.
• A post-donation seating area with snacks and water: You’ll want to monitor donors after giving blood. Be sure to design a comfortable seating area with snacks and water for post-donation recovery.

Tip 4: Consider Those with Limited Mobility

Getting in and out of a bloodmobile can be difficult for those with limited mobility. Make sure that you include ramps and wheelchair lifts for those who need assistance entering and exiting the vehicle.

Additionally, be sure that walkways and seating areas provide ample room for wheelchairs and other accessibility equipment.

Tip 5: Let Your Team Get Creative

Finally, no one knows your donors better than the staff responsible for interacting with them and drawing their blood.

As you design your custom bloodmobile layout, make sure you gather the entire team together and let them get creative. Allow everyone to contribute ideas into the process, and hone in on what will work best for every party involved.

With the incredible amount of onboard technology and equipment that is available for custom bloodmobiles, the sky’s the limit when it comes to how you can design your bloodmobile to best serve your donors and your staff.

Work with Summit Bodyworks to Design a Patient-Friendly Bloodmobile

Bloodmobiles are an incredible asset for the healthcare sector. They make it possible to host blood drives anywhere the vehicle can be driven. This makes donating blood more convenient for donors and efficient for medical teams.

At Summit Bodyworks, we are here to help you design a patient-friendly bloodmobile that will make the process of donating life-saving blood as comfortable as possible.

Want to see our previous work in action? Check out the Advent Health Bloodmobile. This custom design features the latest and best in equipment and technology with patient comfort at the center of the design.

To learn more about creating a custom bloodmobile, reach out to our team today. We look forward to assisting you in your upcoming build.

Established in Colorado, Summit Bodyworks is on the forefront of innovation and customer service for vehicle manufacturing and upfitting. Whether you’re looking for all-electric, hybrid, or gas-powered options, Summit Bodyworks is your one-stop-shop for design, manufacturing, and upfitting of trucks, vans, specialty vehicles, and fleets.