US20150091422A1

US20150091422A1 - Mobile Personal Protection Equipment Station

Info

Publication number: US20150091422A1
Application number: US14/039,484
Authority: US
Inventors: Deborah Adler; Stephanie T. Nelson
Original assignee: Medline Industries LP
Current assignee: Medline Industries LP
Priority date: 2013-09-27
Filing date: 2013-09-27
Publication date: 2015-04-02

Abstract

A mobile personal protection equipment station includes a housing having a plurality of drawer compartments formed therein. The housing has a plurality of wheels disposed on the bottom thereof such that the housing readily moved by rolling on those wheels. A first drawer fits into a first one of the drawer compartments. This first drawer has at least one glove-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof and can include one or more vertical panels disposed therein to thereby form one or more compartments for conformally receiving a box of gloves to be dispensed. A second drawer has at least one mask-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof and may also include one or more vertical panels to thereby one or more compartments for conformally receiving a box of masks to be dispensed. A third drawer has at least one gown-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to personal protection equipment and more particular to personal protection equipment dispensers.

BACKGROUND

The expression personal protection equipment (PPE), as used herein, refers to items designed to protect the user (such as medical services providers, patients, and visitors/observers to medical-services venues) from exposure to biologically-hazardous materials such as, but not limited to, any of a variety of biological liquids and solids, microbes, allergens, and so forth.
Examples of wearable personal protection equipment include, but are not limited to, a variety of gloves, face masks, and gowns. Examples of non-wearable personal protection equipment include, but are not limited to, anti-microbial gels, foams, and sprays as well as anti-microbial/sanitizing wipes.
A variety of personal protection equipment items are often used in a medical care facility such as a hospital or urgent care center. This variety can include not only items that differ in kind from one another (such as gloves, masks, and gowns) but also items of the same kind that nevertheless differ from one another as regards one or more particular aspects (such as gloves formed of different kinds of materials or differently-designed masks). This variety exists, at least in part, in order to accommodate using particular personal protection equipment items that are appropriate to the needs of a given application setting (including the threat of contamination posed by particular diseases, procedures, and so forth).
Personal protection equipment items are often worn or otherwise used for an immediate and specific purpose. Upon concluding that purpose (which may consume minutes or hours as the case may be) the items are then typically discarded (though not always—some PPE gowns, for example, are designed to be laundered and reused).
In fact, a given medical services facility can utilize a widely-varying number and type of personal protection equipment items from day to day and from location to location within the facility. Such variability can make it difficult to ensure that an adequate supply of personal protection equipment items is always on hand for convenient and immediate use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above needs are at least partially met through provision of the a mobile personal protection equipment station described in the following detailed description, particularly when studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 9 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 11 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 12 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 13 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 14 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 15 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 16 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 17 comprises a perspective view as configured in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally speaking, pursuant to these various embodiments a mobile personal protection equipment station includes a housing having a plurality of drawer compartments formed therein. The housing has a plurality of wheels disposed on the bottom thereof such that the housing readily moved by rolling on those wheels. So configured the housing and its contents can be conveniently moved from location to location on an as-needed basis.
A first drawer fits into a first one of the drawer compartments. This first drawer has at least one glove-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof. By one approach this front panel includes a plurality of glove-dispensing slots formed therethrough. If desired, this first drawer has one or more vertical panels disposed therein to thereby form one or more compartments for conformally receiving a box of gloves to be dispensed. By one approach, such a drawer can be loaded with a variety of glove types and those gloves can be conveniently dispensed via corresponding glove-dispensing slots.
A second drawer fits into a second one of the drawer compartments. This second drawer has at least one mask-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof. By one approach this second panel includes a plurality of mask-dispensing slots formed therethrough. If desired, this second drawer has one or more vertical panels disposed therein to thereby form one or more compartments for conformally receiving a box of masks to be dispensed. By one approach at least two such compartments can be differently sized to accommodate boxes that are sized differently from one another. Such an approach can facilitate, for example, presenting at least two differently-sized boxes that each contain, respectively, differently-sized masks.
A third drawer fits into a third one of the drawer compartments. This third drawer has at least one gown-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof. By one approach this gown-dispensing slot comprises a horizontal slot that is formed through a lower portion of that front panel. Again, and if desired, one or more interior vertical panels can serve to form one or more interior compartments to help, for example, maintain the gowns awaiting dispensing in a suitably upright and dispensable orientation.
If desired, the housing can include additional drawer compartments and corresponding drawers and/or one or more sliding trays. Other components can be mounted on the sides of the housing as desired. Examples include but are not limited to one or more bins configured to hold one or more hygiene-facilitating dispensing containers, a chart holder, and so forth. By one approach, a sign assembly can be attached atop the housing and configured to receive and display printed material of choice (such as printed information regarding the efficacy and/or manner of using the personal protection items available for use via the apparatus).
So configured such a station can be readily moved to a location of need. On station, this apparatus makes a wide variety of personal protection equipment available to medical services providers, patients, and visitors. In addition to having the ability to offer a variety of items in these regards, such a station can hold a considerable number of such items as readily-available inventory. Notwithstanding this relatively copious storage space such a station need only present a relatively small footprint and hence is well adapted to conveniently fit into any number of application settings.
These and other benefits may become clearer upon making a thorough review and study of the following detailed description. Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 presents one illustrative example of a mobile personal protection equipment station 100 that accords with various aspects of the present teachings. It will be understood that the specifics of this example are intended to serve in an illustrative capacity and are not intended to suggest any particular limitations in these regards.
In this example the station 100 includes a housing 101 having a bottom 102 and a plurality of drawer compartments 103 formed therein. The housing 101 can comprise any of a variety of useful materials including a variety of metals (such as aluminum, steel, and so forth) and plastics. In this example the housing 101 has a tower form factor and hence is considerably taller than wide or deep. So configured, the housing 101 presents a very limited footprint awhile also offering at least some of its available contents at a convenient height to many users.
In this example the housing 101 features a top 104 having rounded side edges 105. These rounded side edges 105 are aesthetically pleasing and also help to ameliorate possibly uncomfortable interactions between those edges and persons in the immediate vicinity of the housing 101. In this example this top 104 also features a faux wood adhesive laminate that extends over the aforementioned rounded side edges 105. This faux wood adhesive laminate is both attractive and eases effective cleaning of the top 104 of the housing using strong disinfectants or the like.
A first drawer 106 fits slidingly into the topmost drawer compartment 103. This first drawer 106 includes a front panel 107. The front panel 107 has a notch 108 formed therein to serve as a convenient interface by which a user can pull the first drawer 106 forward by inserting or one or more fingers into the notch 108.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this first drawer 106 serves to hold a plurality of boxes 201 of gloves. (As used herein, this reference to “boxes” will be understood to refer to the manufacturer's primary packaging for the corresponding contents; i.e., the packaging employed when providing the contents to the user as versus, for example, the packaging employed to ship a plurality of such boxes from a manufacturing facility to a distribution center.) These boxes 201 each include an aperture through which the gloves can be individually accessed and withdrawn for use. In this example the first drawer 106 is sized to accommodate three such boxes 201 when the latter are arrayed side by side.
The front panel 107 for this first drawer 106 includes a plurality of vertically- disposed glove-dispensing slots 109 disposed therethrough. These glove-dispensing slots 109 are disposed substantially parallel to one another and are positioned to register and coincide at least in part with the aforementioned box apertures. So configured, individual gloves can be readily accessed and withdrawn by a user via a corresponding glove-dispensing slot 109.
As perhaps best shown in FIG. 2, this first drawer 106 has a plurality of vertical panels 202 disposed therein to thereby form three forward compartments. These compartments are sized and configured to each conformally receive a single one of the aforementioned box 201 of gloves. (As used herein, references to “conformally” will be understood to refer to a size and shape that is similar to but somewhat larger than the size and shape of the contained item such that the item can be inserted into and withdrawn from the item-receiving space without difficulty and such that the item will not have much room to move laterally when installed in that space. For example, the box-receiving space may be no wider or deeper than the corresponding box than, say, 0.0 inches to about 1.0 inches.)
The box-receiving spaces defined by these vertical panels 202 and the front panel 107 serve to hold three boxes 201 of gloves at the front of the drawer 106 such that the gloves contained therein are and remain readily available for convenient dispensing via the aforementioned glove-dispensing slots 109. In particular, momentarily exerting inwardly- directed force on a given one of the boxes 201 in order to facilitate dispensing a glove from one of the boxes will not cause the corresponding box to be pushed further into the drawer 106.
In this illustrative example a supplemental storage space 203 in the drawer 106 behind the aforementioned vertical panels serves to store additional boxes 201 of gloves as available inventory. Though the contents of these boxes are not immediately available for dispensing, these boxes serve as immediately available inventory to replace empty boxes at the front of the drawer 106. In this illustrated example this storage space 203 will contain up to six boxes 201 of gloves.
So configured, this first drawer 106 can present gloves from three different boxes of gloves as being available for immediate dispensing via a corresponding slot 109 in the drawer's front panel 107. These gloves can all be identical or can differ from one another as desired. For example, these three boxes of gloves can each offer a differently-sized glove (such as small, medium, and large-sized gloves). As another example, these three boxes of gloves can vary with respect to the kind of glove being dispensed (such as latex gloves, non- latex gloves, and powder-free non-latex gloves).
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, a second drawer 110 (located immediately below and vertically adjacent to the aforementioned first drawer 106) also features a front panel 111 having, in this case, two slots 112 formed therethrough. As shown in FIG. 4 this second drawer 110 also includes some vertical panels 401 disposed therein to form a pair of side-by-side compartments that are configured to receiving a corresponding pair of boxes 402 and 403 of face masks. In this case the two boxes 402 and 403 contain different kinds of face masks and the boxes 402 and 403 are differently sized as compared to one another. In anticipation of these differences (both with respect to the differently-sized boxes and the differently-sized masks contained therein) the two slots 112 are differently sized from one another and are somewhat differently oriented as well to thereby provide ready access to the masks when their corresponding boxes are placed in the above-mentioned compartments.
In this illustrative embodiment the second drawer 110 includes a large, general storage compartment 404 behind the aforementioned vertical panels 401. This compartment 404 can serve to store, for example, one or more boxes 405 of yet another kind/size of face mask (for example, a type of face mask that may not be used as frequently as the masks that are available through the front panel 111 and/or that are so large in size as to not be readily dispensable through a corresponding slot. By another approach, in lieu of the foregoing or in combination therewith this general storage compartment 404 can contain other items 406 including, for example, masks that are not conveniently made available via a box.
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, a third drawer 113 (located in this example immediately below and vertically adjacent to the aforementioned second drawer 110) again has a front panel 114 and, in this example, a single elongated horitzonal slot 115 disposed at the lower portion thereof. As particularly shown in FIG. 5, by one approach a plurality of folded gowns 504 can be placed in this third drawer 113 and dispensed via the aforementioned slot 115. If desired, one or more vertical panels 501 disposed within the third drawer 113 can serve to support a loosely-loaded plurality of folded gowns 504 to better facilitate their orientation in a state that readily facilitates dispensing individual gowns 504 via that slot 115.
Some folded gowns come differently packed and are readily individually dispensed from their manufacturer's packaging. A box 601 of such gowns is shown in FIG. 6 as an illustrative example in these regards. To accommodate such boxes 601 the interior vertical panels 501 of this third drawer 113 can include a perpendicular panel 503 that helps to define two adjacent compartments that can each accommodate conformally receiving such a box 601.
As with the second drawer 110 described above, the aforementioned vertical panel(s) 501 can also serve to form a rear storage compartment 502 that can hold, for example, an additional available inventory of gowns and/or other related items as desired.
As noted above, the first, second, and third drawers 106, 110, and 113 each has at least one PPE item dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof. So configured, a user can readily select and obtain one or more desired items of PPE without needing to open one of those drawers. That said, there can be items that are not so easily dispensed. It can also be useful to provide additional storage capacity for personal protection equipment items to thereby maintain a useful store of replacement stock to replenish one of the aforementioned boxes. To meet such needs, one or more additional drawers 116 can be provided. In this particular example, the front panel 117 of this additional drawer 116 lacks any personal protective equipment dispensing slots. That said, in this particular example this additional drawer 116 serves to hold additional items (which may be gowns identical or similar to those that are available in the other gown-dedicated drawers or different as appropriate).
The aforementioned front panels for the drawers can be opaque, transparent, or at least translucent as desired. One or more of these front panels can be colorless or can be color coded if desired (to indicate, for example, the category of items contained in the corresponding drawer). These teachings will also accommodate using any of a wide variety of handles or pulls in lieu of the described notches if so desired.
By one approach the aforementioned vertical panels can be affixed in place within their respective drawers. By another approach, some or all of the vertical panels can be selectively movable to thereby permit the user to adjust the specific location of such vertical panels to thereby facilitate accommodating a wider variety of differently-sized and/or differently-shaped boxes. As a non-limiting example, one or more vertical panel in the third drawer can be movable to facilitate moving the vertical panel(s) to provide support for a variable number of gowns.
If desired, and as illustrated herein, the side and bottom front edges of the drawers can sport the same (or a similar) faux (or real) wood laminate as adorns the top 104 of the housing 101. Such an accoutrement can help to provide a less institutional look to the station 100.
By one approach, and as largely illustrated above, at least some of the drawers can be dedicated to dispensing a particular categorical type of personal protection equipment item (such as gloves, masks, or gowns). If desired, some or all of the drawers that are dedicated in this manner can include indicia on the front panels thereof to inform the viewer in these regards. As examples in these regards, but without intending any limitations as regards the specificity of these examples, FIG. 1 illustrates that the first drawer 106 can have a glove icon 118 disposed on the front panel 107 thereof, the second drawer 110 can have two different mask icons 119 disposed on the front panel 114 thereof, and the third and fourth drawers 113 and 116 can each have a gown icon 120 disposed on the front panels 114 and 117 thereof to serve in these regards. These graphic embellishments can comprise a permanent part of their corresponding drawers (for example, by use of printing or etching) or can comprise a sticker or other potentially-removable object as desired.
These teachings are highly flexible in practice and will accommodate a wide variety of variations as regards the foregoing as well as numerous additions and modifications. A few examples in these regards will now be described. It will be understood that no particular limitations are intended by way of the specificity of any of these examples.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 8, the housing 101 can further include, if desired, one or more trays 121 configured to slide in and out of the housing 101. In this illustrative example the tray 121 is slidingly disposed in the housing 101 atop any of the aforementioned drawers. Being a “tray,” such a component is necessarily shallow and not suited to hold or dispense much in the way of gloves, masks, or gowns. That said, however, such a tray 121 can hold useful printed literature (such as informational pamphlets and the like regarding the need for and use of personal protection equipment that can be provided to less-experienced persons such as visitors to a patient's recovery room), a stethoscope, a thermometer, and so forth; i.e., relatively small and/or flat items that might be useful in the general vicinity of the station 100.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 9-11, by another approach the housing 101 can include one or more bins 122 mounted on a side of the housing 101. This bin 122 can be permanently mounted to the side of the housing 101 (for example, via welding or an adhesive of choice) or temporarily mounted using any of a variety of attachment mechanisms including but not limited to bolts, clips, hooks-and-loops fasteners, and so forth. Such a bin 122 can be configured, for example, to hold one or more hygiene-facilitating dispensing containers such as a gel/liquid-dispensing pump-based hand-cleaner container 901, a moist towelettes/wipes dispenser 902, and so forth.
Being a “bin” rather than, say, a tray or a shelf, this component has relatively deep sides and hence will tend to well contain such hygiene-facilitating dispensing containers as the station 100 is moved from place to place and during ordinary stationary use (as the drawers are opened and closed, for example). By one approach the bin 122 has a fully-open top. By another approach, and as illustrated, the bin 122 includes a dispenser latch 903. Such a dispenser latch 903 can pivot about a corresponding pivot point 1001 (FIG. 10) and can include a notch 904 sized and shaped to at least partially engage and captivate a portion of a corresponding dispenser (in this illustrative example, the neck/cap of a hand-cleaner gel dispenser 901). So configured, at least one hygiene-facilitating dispensing container contained within the bin 122 can be latched therein to help maintain the position of that container during movement and use.
Referring to FIG. 12, if desired the housing 101 can have a chart holder 1201 attached thereto. In this illustrative example a chart holder 1201 is secured on a side of the housing 101 that is opposite the aforementioned bin 122. This chart holder 1201 is sized and shaped to receive a hardcopy of the patient's medical chart (or a pad/tablet-styled computer that contains a patient's virtual medical chart).
By one approach this chart holder 1201 is affixed to the housing 101 using welding, adhesives, threaded fasteners, rivets, and so forth. By another approach the chart holder 1201 is readily selectively removed from the housing 101. As one approach in those regards, and referring to FIG. 13, a plate 1301 having a pair of flanges 1302 extending laterally outwardly on opposing sides thereof is secured to the housing 101 via a pair of threaded attachment members 1303. In this example the flanges 1302 are parallel to the remainder of the plate 1301 but outwardly offset by a small amount to provide a space between the flanges 1302 and the housing 101. As shown in FIG. 14 the backside of the chart holder 1201 can include a tab 1401 that is configured and sized to fit within the aforementioned offset space to thereby hold the chart holder 1201 in place on the side of the housing 101. So configured, the chart holder 1201 (and its contents) can be readily selectively detached from the housing 101 by merely lifting the chart holder 1201 upwardly to remove the tab 1401 from within the offset space.
Referring again momentarily to FIG. 12, the housing 101 can also include one or more handles 1202. Such a handle 1202 can facilitate maneuvering the station 100 from one location to another, or to adjust the particular orientation of the station 100 at a particular location.
As shown in FIG. 15 the housing 101 can include a plurality of wheels 1501 on the bottom 102 thereof to thereby facilitate readily moving the housing 101 by rolling on those wheels 1501. In this example the wheels 1501 are able to spin about both a horizontal axis and a vertical axis of rotation to thereby facilitate such movement. Also in this illustrative example at least some of the wheels 1501 include a brake/latch mechanism 1502 to permit a user to lock such wheels 1501 upon placing the station 100 at a desired location to thereby help the station 100 to remain where positioned.
In this illustrative example the wheels 1501 are located at each of the bottom corners of the housing 101. These teachings will accommodate other approaches, however, and different numbers and types of wheels as desired to suit the needs of a given application setting.
These teachings will also accommodate providing the housing 101 with one or more corner bumpers 1503 to protect both the station 100 and other surfaces from impact- related damage or marring. In this illustrative example each bottom corner of the housing 101 has a corner bumper 1503 disposed thereabout and secured thereto via threaded engagement members.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 16, and 17, the top 104 of the housing 101 can optionally include a sign assembly 123 attached thereto that is configured to receive and display printed material. In this example the sign assembly 123 comprises a closed wedge of transparent plastic that includes two front-facing double- walled sides 1601 and 1602. These double- walled sides 1601 and 1602 each have a narrow slot disposed there between configured to receive paper signage. By way of example, FIG. 17 illustrates a user disposing a sheet of paper 1701 into this slot as corresponds to a first one of the double-walled sides 1601.
So configured, the station 100 can offer prominent signage to inform onlookers as to any desired relevant point of information. Useful examples in these regards include, but are not limited to, information to identify the station 100 as offering personal protection equipment, information regarding the wisdom and/or need to employ personal protection equipment, information regarding which items of personal protection equipment to employ in which circumstances, instructions regarding proper usage and/or disposal of personal protection equipment, and so forth. By one approach at least some information as conveyed via the sign assembly 123 can be graphically coded to the aforementioned informational icons 118-120.
So configured, this station 100 is easily moved to locations of need and offers convenient, intuitive, and sensible access to a variety of items of personal protection equipment. This access can include personal protection equipment items that are dispensed through the aforementioned drawer slots as well as items that are accessed by opening a corresponding one of the drawers. Notwithstanding such benefits the station 100 itself can be comprised of readily available materials and relatively low cost, thus bringing the opportunity to acquire and use such a station to a wide range of application settings.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:

a housing having a bottom and having a plurality of drawer compartments formed therein;

a plurality of wheels disposed on the bottom of the housing such that the housing is readily moved by rolling on the plurality of wheels;

a first drawer configured to fit into one of the drawer compartments and having at least one personal-protection equipment (PPE) item-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof;

a second drawer configured to fit into one of the drawer compartments;

a third drawer configured to fit into one of the drawer compartments.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first drawer has a plurality of the PPE item- dispensing slots formed through the front panel thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the plurality of PPE item-dispensing slots comprises three glove-dispensing slots, the glove-dispensing slots being disposed parallel to one another.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first drawer has a plurality of vertical panels disposed therein to thereby form at least one compartment for conformally receiving a single box of gloves to be dispensed, the box comprising manufacturer's primary packaging for the gloves.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second drawer has a plurality of the mask- dispensing slots formed through the front panel thereof.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the second drawer has a plurality of vertical panels disposed therein to thereby form at least two compartments for each conformally receiving a box of masks to be dispensed, each of the boxes comprising manufacturer's primary packaging for the masks and wherein a first one of the boxes is sized differently than a second one of the boxes.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the gown-dispensing slot comprises a horizontal slot formed through a lower portion of the front panel of the third drawer.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a fourth drawer configured to fit into one of the drawer compartments and lacking any personal protective equipment-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a bin mounted on a side of the housing and configured to hold at least one hygiene- facilitating dispensing container.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the bin is configured to hold at least one hand- cleaner gel dispenser and one moist wipe dispenser.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the front panels are at least translucent.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a tray configured to slide in and out of the housing.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a chart holder disposed on a side of the housing.

14. A sign assembly attached atop the housing and configured to receive and display printed material.

15. A mobile personal protection equipment (PPE) station comprising:

a housing having a top and a bottom and having a plurality of vertically-stacked compartments formed therein;

a first drawer slidingly disposed in a first one of the compartments and having at least two vertically-disposed glove-dispensing slots formed through a front panel thereof;

a second drawer slidingly disposed in a second one of the compartments and having at least two mask-dispensing slots formed through a front panel thereof;

a third drawer slidingly disposed in a third one of the compartments and having a gown-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof;

a fourth drawer slidingly disposed in a fourth one of the compartments below any of the first, second, and third drawers and lacking any personal protective equipment-dispensing slot formed through a front panel thereof;

a tray slidingly disposed in the housing atop any of the drawers.

16. The PPE station of claim 15 wherein:

the first drawer includes a plurality of fixed vertical panels disposed therein to form individual box-receiving compartments sized to each conformally receive a single box of gloves to be dispensed, the box comprising manufacturer's primary packaging for the gloves;

the second drawer includes a plurality of fixed vertical panels disposed therein to form individual box-receiving compartments sized to each conformally receive a single box of masks to be dispensed, the box comprising manufacturer's primary packing for the masks;

the third drawer includes a movable vertical panel to provide support for a variable number of gowns.

17. The PPE station of claim 16 wherein:

the first drawer includes supplemental storage space behind the fixed vertical panels to store at least one additional box of gloves as available inventory;

the second drawer includes supplemental storage space behind the fixed vertical panels to store at least one additional box of masks;

the third drawer includes supplemental storage space behind the movable vertical panel to store additional gowns.

18. The PPE station of claim 15 further comprising:

a handle disposed on a side of the housing to facilitate moving the housing;

and wherein at least one of the plurality of wheels is selectively lockable.

19. The PPE station of claim 15 further comprising:

20. The PPE station of claim 19 further comprising:

a chart holder disposed on a side of the housing that is opposite the bin.