Current Appeal

Having a hospital that is properly equipped is crucial in attracting and retaining specialized healthcare professionals. The Foundation's work is never done; year after year there are new equipment, education and information technology needs. We are the only source of funding to fulfill these needs at our hospital.

 

Cardiac Remote Monitoring Stations
 

A telemetry unit is a unit within a hospital where patients are under continuous electronic monitoring.  Telemetry, the practice of sending electronic signals from one place to another, is a tremendously useful tool in hospitals, as it allows nurses to monitor heart rate, heart rhythm, breathing, and other vital signs both by the patient's bedside, and at a remote location like a nursing station. Many major hospital centres have telemetry units available for patients in the event that a patient needs such monitoring.  However, there are many instances where a cardiac patient would have to be transferred to a larger cardiac centre for further care.  Our ability to provide cardiac monitoring for patients helps us to determine this need earlier, and often, before life-threatening problems arise

 

Patients are admitted to a telemetry unit when a doctor feels that they could benefit from intensive monitoring.  Telemetry is often recommended after a heart attack, or when a patient is seriously ill or at risk of developing complications. The unit may have private or shared rooms, and the nursing staff is highly trained so that they can respond to emergent medical problems quickly and confidently.

Using remote telemetry, a nurse can monitor all of the patients in the unit from the nursing station, and from several other locations throughout the nursing unit.  Having telemetry display screens in different areas of the unit, assists nurses to respond quickly to those patients who have the most immediate need.

Another advantage to a telemetry unit that is equipped with remote monitoring, is that hospital personnel can detect emergent medical issues before they become a problem. Changes in the vital signs being monitored can indicate that a patient is about to experience a problem, and a nurse can quickly correct the issue before it endangers the patient.

From the sensing electrodes (connected to the patient), to the wireless transmitter (small box connected to the electrodes), to the base station (where nurses receive the data)… all three pieces together provide the best and latest in cardiac technology reducing the time from the onset of a cardiac “event” to intervention in reducing fatalities.

 

How will this latest technology benefit the patients we serve?

 

  • Gives the seriously ill patient a greater sense of security when they know that they are being monitored 24/7so that any irregular heart activity can be detected and quickly addressed by skilled nurses. 
  • Fear and anxiety are reduced making the patient less stressed.  This is important because the stress of waiting for diagnosis and treatment for cardiac problems can increase the patients’ overall cardiac symptoms –a dangerous cycle.
  • Eases comfort level and ability to walk and move freely without pulling on the monitor.  Not only is comfort enhanced, but nurses are able to monitor and identify the impact to the heart of various physical activity.
  • Additionally, nurses can use telemetry monitoring to evaluate the effect cardiac medications have on a patient’s heart.  This helps to fine-tune patient’s medication so that they are able to take the smallest, most effective dose.
  • Monitoring patient’s heart rate, rhythm, and vital signs can provide doctors and nurses valuable clues as to the underlying cause of otherwise mysterious symptoms like TIA, syncope, and stroke.

 

Financial Breakdown

 Sault Area Hospital requires two (2) cardiac remote monitoring stations at a cost of (2) $50K each for the Medical Telemetry Unit (Level 3, Wing C) at Sault Area Hospital.

This is a financial one-time cost and has now been identified as a critical need given that its an essential life-saving/safety measurement piece of medical equipment.

 

Risks factors to not having these monitoring systems:

  1. patients are at risk of not being monitored properly.
  2. impacts nursing workload on the unit as nursing staff must frequently return to the  central nursing  station to review monitors.
  3. Risk that alarm states will be undetected for a period of time while nurse are away from the central monitoring station and engaged in the care of other patients on the unit.
  4. Risk that abnormal heart rhythms are not responded to in a timely manner.