2 minute read
Picture perfect
Marjorie Colclough is a registered nurse who took a lead role as Royal Columbian Hospital works to upgrade its cardiac catheterization labs, which are the busiest in the province. Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, during its Cardiac Care Campaign, is working with donors to raise $3.3 million for this project.
Foundation: The current equipment in the two cath labs is more than ten years old. How much has technology and equipment changed? MC: It’s changed a lot. I think the biggest thing for me in the new equipment is something you can’t see with your eye, and that’s the radiation. From the time that I started doing angiograms to the time we have come to now, radiation safety has really come to the forefront, not just for the staff but for our patients. When we can get newer, better equipment that reduces radiation exposure, it’s better for patients and staff.
Foundation: In addition to better radiation safety for patients and staff, what other improvements will you see? MC: We will have much better quality imaging, clearer pictures. Think of your television. If you watch a TV program in HD, and then you watch it without HD, that’s what it’s like. You get a much better, clearer picture of what you are seeing.
Foundation: No doubt the new 56- inch screens will help provide better images. MC: The new screens will be big! When we do a procedure, we are watching the screen at all times. As well as having bigger and better screens, we will be able to zero in on something, almost like how you can make a picture bigger on your phone. That allows us to get a closer look at small details.
Foundation: Patient monitoring is being upgraded too. What does that offer? MC: We are constantly monitoring patients’ vital signs and rhythms to make sure they are safe at all times during a procedure. We monitor their blood pressure, their vital signs and their oxygen saturations. All those components will be improved and easier to see with the new equipment.
Foundation: I understand you will be able to combine CT scans with live x-ray images. MC: That’s more for the structural work that we do. When you can combine the two, you can see more where you need to go or what you need to do. If you can get more of a 3D rather than a 2D visual, it gives us so much more access to the patient and it allows for faster procedures.
Foundation: Having all this new technology will make us a model site for others, I assume. MC: We’ll be a showcase site. We will have top-of-the-line equipment. Also, we are such a busy cath lab and do so many more cases than anyone else in the province. We will really be a highlight.
Wesgroup is a proud supporter of the Royal Columbian Hospital and an advocate to advancing the health care facilities in BC’s fastest growing region.
