Service club donation to help critical patients at hospital
(CNS Local Life): Rotary Central Cayman Islands has donated medical equipment to the Health Services Authority (HSA) to improve life-saving treatment of critical patients having difficulty breathing due to an obstruction in their airways. The service club presented three new video laryngoscopes to the Cayman Islands Hospital, for Accident and Emergency, Emergency Medical Services and Critical Care.
A video laryngoscope is used to assist with intubation (a process to help patients breathe) for trauma and surgery, stated an HSA press release. The equipment is inserted into the mouth of the patient, allowing doctors and medical personnel to get a clear, high-quality view of the throat.
“I have worked with HSA’s finest emergency medical technicians and paramedics who have seemingly performed miracle intubations on patients who have extremely difficult airways such as motor vehicle accident victims with head, neck and face trauma,” said Rotary Central health initiative chair Zelta Gayle, who also works as an emergency room registered nurse at the HSA.
“It is the intention that these laryngoscopes will augment their emergency services in advanced airway management,” she added in the press release.
A laryngoscope provides a real-time view of a patient’s airway and minimises the risk of injury among patients with throat tumours or with changed anatomy from trauma, the HSA said. It maximises the medical provider’s chance of first-attempt success and minimises the intubation time, improving the success rates of very challenging intubations. It also facilitates the removal of foreign objects from the upper airway, prior to the option of surgical airway intervention.
“Rotary Central and the Health Services Authority have shared an excellent relationship in the delivery of healthcare over the years,” Gayle said. “With the dedicated participation of the HSA and major establishments on the island, Rotary Central has provided annual island-wide health screening of almost 8,000 people over the years. The club has also facilitated the diabetes educator course for 19 nurses and pharmacists, supported the Cayman Islands Blood Bank and donated modern Spacelabs Healthcare monitoring equipment for the emergency room,” she added, saying that the club will continue to identify needs and donate when possible.
HSA Medical Director Dr Delroy Jefferson said the donation of the laryngoscopes “is another example of the outstanding partnership established over many years between the HSA and Rotary Central Cayman Islands in support of our commitment to delivering high-quality healthcare services to our community.”
Category: Local News, Medical and Health
