Mobile Medical
Tips for Customizing Your New Bloodmobile
May 20, 2021
A custom bloodmobile allows clinics, hospitals, and other health care facilities to reach a larger number of potential blood donors. By driving to central areas, bloodmobiles make it convenient for those who wish to donate blood, without requiring donors to drive long distances. The end result is that communities have access to more life-saving blood for patients in need.
When purchasing a new bloodmobile, the options for customization are vast. From the seating arrangements to the technology onboard, you will be afforded the chance to design your new bloodmobile to meet your specific needs.
Before starting the customization process, check out the following list of tips that will help make the process smoother. This checklist will also help to ensure that the vehicle you drive away with is the perfect fit for the whole team.
Start with a Full Team Meeting
A bloodmobile will be a central hub for gathering blood donations from your community. Whether it is driven to health fair events at local office buildings or to rural towns in your community, the people who will be operating the bloodmobile should be central to the build.
Before hiring a team to custom build a new bloodmobile, gather everyone who will be involved in the use of your new bloodmobile for a team meeting.
During this meeting, gather ideas from all key stakeholders. For example, who will be driving the bloodmobile? Make sure you have input on what would make their job safe and efficient. Similarly, what healthcare personnel will be deployed to work in the bloodmobile? Ask for their input on the layout and what will help make it easiest for them to move donors through the mobile donation center.
A full team meeting will help you to gain a complete picture of what you need to design the ideal custom bloodmobile. Additionally, it will help your entire team feel like they are part of the customization experience.
Ask Your Custom Builder to See Previous Builds
The next step in creating a custom build is to gather ideas from existing designs.
When getting estimates from a custom builder, ask to see their previous bloodmobile builds.
This will help you with your custom upfit in two ways:
- You can gain inspiration. By looking over previous builds, you can take note of ideas your team hadn’t even thought about and add them to your list of customized needs.
- By taking a look at previous builds, you’ll gain a better understanding of the quality of work offered by the specialty vehicle designer. This can help you decide whether or not they will be a good fit for your particular needs.
Choose the Right Size Chassis
A custom bloodmobile can be designed on a variety of chassis choices. Be sure to discuss what options are available during the early stages of design.
The right size chassis will ensure that the bloodmobile you design has enough power to transport medical personnel and equipment to and from donation sites.
Focus on Creating an Efficient Space
Customization should be focused on designing an efficient workflow. After all, the goal of a bloodmobile is to gather as many donations as possible in the allotted period of time.
Work with medical staff members to understand what will improve their efficiency. Build-in custom storage to keep equipment and supplies handy. Create ample seating space for donors. Add in a breakroom to give staff a place to relax out of the way of the busy workflow. Look at creative options for improving the process of donors checking in.
As you study the various design options, keep a focus on how easy it will be for staff to funnel donors in and out of the bloodmobile while ensuring patient comfort.
Think About Multi-Use Options
While a bloodmobile is specifically designed for accepting blood donations at a location away from your clinic or hospital, it doesn’t have to be used for only this purpose.
Instead, as you customize your bloodmobile, consider creating the space for multiple uses.
For example, your community might also benefit from having a mobile testing clinic that can be used to test for COVID-19. Perhaps you need a traveling vaccination clinic, or maybe you want to use your bloodmobile as an educational clinic to visit nearby schools.
There are countless ways to put your bloodmobile to use as a mobile health clinic. During the customization process, be sure to consider what other features you might want to add to the build to make it a multi-use medical vehicle. Don’t hesitate to ask your custom builder about what other medical vehicle options are available.
Never Settle for Less Than What You Want
One of the best ways to ensure that the custom bloodmobile is the right fit for your team is to work with a team that listens to your feedback. Make sure they are committed to working on the design until it is 100% right.
A bloodmobile is a large investment for your health care facility, so be sure to make the most of the build.
Talk to Our Team at Summit Bodyworks Today
If you are considering a custom bloodmobile for your clinic, hospital, or other healthcare facilities, talk to our team at Summit Bodyworks today. We are the nation’s leading specialty vehicle and truck body manufacturer and upfitter. With over 30 years of experience building specialty vehicles, we can help you customize the perfect bloodmobile for your community’s specific needs.
Interested in learning more about the work we have done? Check out one of our recent bloodmobile builds for Advent Health.
Whether you know exactly what you want to design, or you need a little help with inspiration, our team is here to assist. We are proud to provide superior customer service throughout the entire customization process. Whether you are working with our expert design team, or you are talking to our service department, you can rest assured that we will always put your needs first. Reach out today to learn more about a custom bloodmobile build.
