Bright Lights - Caring Connections: Our Holiday Appeal
Holiday donors support safe surgeries for patients at Ross Memorial
Don’t let its name fool you: an anesthetic gas machine is more than a drug-delivery system in the operating room. It also monitors the patient’s vital signs, registering the smallest changes in a patient’s status, with alarms that alert the team to potential danger.
“Anaesthesia machines are the most important piece of patient safety equipment in the OR,” says Dr. Ali Al-Beer, Chief of Surgery at Ross Memorial Hospital.
Along with the anaesthetists and the members of the OR team, Dr. Al-Beer counts on the precision readings of the anaesthetic gas machines to help keep patients safe during surgery. That’s why he’s spearheading the Foundation’s 2015 Holiday Appeal to raise funds that will help with the purchase of new anaesthesia machines.
The new technology allows anaesthetists to customize their workstations to the patient’s individual needs. For example, patients with lung disease such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, require special attention to the volume and pressure of air going through their lungs. During surgery, the anaesthetist watches the monitors on the anaesthetic gas machine carefully to report changes to the surgeon.
Every case is different. Having this new technology in the OR helps the surgeon and anaesthetist to give each patient the safest care possible.
The Bright Lights—Caring Connections Holiday Appeal letter is being delivered to every household in the City of Kawartha Lakes in the next few weeks to give everyone an opportunity to play a role in exceptional care.
“The Foundation is proud to work with Dr. Al-Beer and to fundraise for equipment that is used 24/7 in the Ross Memorial’s operating rooms,” said Erin Coons, RMH Foundation Executive Director. “We hope everyone will read our letter and become one of our caring connections in the community. As Dr. Al-Beer says, we can’t do it alone.”