Your July Impact: Thunder Bay 50/50 Brings New Two-in-one Ventilator to ICU and NICU

A ventilator is one of those critical pieces of equipment at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. These high-tech machines help patients breathe when they cannot breathe on their own.

“This is life-saving equipment for critically ill patients,” said Bruno Tassone, Coordinator for Critical Care and Respiratory Services at the Health Sciences Centre.

That’s why it’s so important that the Health Sciences Centre has a full fleet of ventilators. As with all medical equipment, parts wear out and new advances make older models obsolete. “When they are out of service, it can take time to repair or replace. There is always a need for new ventilators so we have them available for when our patients need them,” Tassone said.

Thanks in part to your Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases, the Health Sciences Centre now has another ventilator on hand. However, this ventilator is a little different than most.

“What makes this ventilator so special is that we can use it for adults in the ICU and for newborns in the NICU,” Tassone said.

As you can imagine, ventilators work differently for adults than newborns for one obvious reason: lung size. Ventilators need to deliver precisely the right volume of air for the size of the patient to be effective and, in the case of newborns, avoid injury. Until relatively recently, manufacturers built two different ventilators to address the needs of each. But developing a two-in-one model gives hospitals like ours added flexibility and capacity.

That’s especially beneficial because newborns don’t often require ventilation. Still, the Health Sciences Centre needs to have one on hand at all times, even if it often sits unused. Now, with this new ventilator, it can be available for use in the ICU, and moved two floors down to NICU for a newborn patient when needed.

In other words, purchasing this one ventilator is almost literally like purchasing two.

“We’re very grateful to the Health Sciences Foundation,” Tassone said. “A ventilator is one of those items that you need now, not later. This grant allows us to ensure we have the life-saving equipment patients in Thunder Bay and the region need, when they need it.”

The Health Sciences Centre’s new two-in-one ventilator is just another way your Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases are making an impact on healthcare in Northwestern Ontario. With every ticket you buy, the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation is able to bring more life-saving equipment like this to the Health Sciences Centre. You’re helping us Do More Faster! Buy your tickets online and find out how big the Grand Prize is today at: thunderbay5050.ca