Your Impact: Thunder Bay 50/50 and Donors Fund Upgraded Vital Signs Monitors
Published Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Thanks to Thunder Bay 50/50 supporters, 17 new vital signs monitors like the one pictured here with Kody Mintenko, RN at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre are enhancing patient monitoring and safety.
February is Heart Month in Canada! Read How Your Ticket Purchases and Donor Support Are Helping Cardiovascular Patients
If you sat back and imagined a hospital room, one of the first things we would all picture is a vital signs monitor. This is a crucial piece of equipment measuring patient vital signs such as heart rate, breathing rate, and oxygen levels in real time.
Recently, proceeds from the Thunder Bay 50/50, along with generous donor contributions, enabled the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation to fund 17 new and upgraded vital signs monitors, enhancing patient care in several ways.
Brittney McLaughlin, Interprofessional Educator at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre said that the changes in technology make a big difference in the patient care.
“This vital signs monitor, the Mindray VS 9, is a step up from previous models,” McLaughlin said. “First of all, it's touchscreen, so it doesn't have any of the soft buttons you'd normally find. But the biggest difference is that it is highly programmable and customizable.”
Some of these advancements are especially useful for cardiovascular patients. For example, the new model can measure something called orthostatic blood pressure. We've all experienced standing up too quickly and feeling light-headed. This is common among cardiovascular patients and significantly increases fall risk. These new monitors can alert staff to a potential fall when this happens.
Another feature is its ability to average blood pressure changes over time. Cardiovascular patients in particular can experience wide swings in blood pressure for various reasons, making it difficult to give a true reading at any given moment. The Mindray VS 9 automatically provides an average blood pressure as well to give doctors, nurses, and others in the care team a more accurate picture.
In fact, the new monitor can now provide a better overall assessment of the patient at any given moment. Called “Early Warning Scores”. In doing so, EWS, can alert staff if the patient's vital signs start worsen – sometimes before a patient physically displays signs. The monitor will alert the care team early before symptoms decline further. Although EWS isn't new, this new type of monitor allows the care team to customize the EWS values based on the patient's situation, such as if they have COPD and/or have supplemental oxygen. Thereby, having the monitor automatically adapt the values to EWS alerts accordingly.
Overall, the Mindray VS 9 vital signs monitor helps ensure patient safety and care, especially for the Hospital's sickest patients including cardiovascular patients.
McLaughlin helped coordinate nurse and care professional training on the new model.
“The manufacturer sent trainers to the Hospital to teach everyone how to use it,” McLaughlin said. “We had several small-group learning sessions over three days so that staff could get familiar and comfortable with the new monitor.”
This is just one way that your purchase of Thunder Bay 50/50 Draw tickets, along with the support of generous donors, helps patients at the Hospital, including those who need advanced cardiovascular care. Find out what the February's Grand Prize is at right now and buy your tickets online at thunderbay5050.ca or visit the Thunder Bay 50/50 store in the Food Court at Intercity Shopping Centre.
Article by Graham Strong