
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 6, 1994                   TAG: 9403040155
SECTION: ROANOKE MEMORIAL HOSPITALS                    PAGE: RMH-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOANNE ANDERSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NETWORK ALLOWS ADVANCED MONITORING OF VITAL SIGNS

Gone are the days when a nurse placed two fingers on the wrist, counted and watched the second hand of a clock. Similarly, counting the chest rising and falling while watching a second hand sweep a circle is passe. So it the glass thermometer that went under the tongue for three minutes.

Pulse, respiratory rate and body temperature, along with a host of other vital signs, can new be continuously monitored and recorded, thanks to advances in medical technology.

In the new South Pavilion at Roanoke Memorial Hospitals, network wiring for sophisticated monitors from Marquette Electronics of Milwaukee, has been installed so that every bed is monitored.

What this really means is that a patient in any bed can be connected to a monitor system and have vital signs recorded. According to Steve Haupt, supervisor of biomedical engineering, a "special portable unit can even travel with a patient coming in from the helicopter touchpad and down the trauma elevator."

This advanced network allows a doctor anywhere in the new pavilion access to a patient's condition anywhere else in the building. For example, a physician in the emergency department can check on a patient in the 9th floor neuro-trauma intensive car unit or any intensive care unit or progressive care unit bed. The doctor can view "real time" information, as well as have a hard copy of data from previous hours.

And pulse, respiration and temperature statistics are the tip of the iceberg for this equipment. Other measurements include oxygen in the blood - measured by infrared light, blood pressure, heart activity in terms of electrical current, cardiac output or volume of blood being pumped, and carbon dioxide levels in breathing.

The monitors can record ventilator information, if one is being used, so medical staff can make adjustments as necessary. Separate electrocardiogram equipment (EKG) is no longer needed on the intensive care unit floors because the new monitoring system can provide EKG analysis.

Nurse manager Cathy Fisher, R.N., says the biggest improvement in the new South Pavilion is the increased number of monitored beds. "Nurses will be able to review patient data at the nurse stations, as well as at the patient's bedside," she said.

In the PCU rooms, monitor options include this sophisticated (or the Marquette) system, and a telemetry system. If a patient does not require comprehensive monitoring, telemetry is ideal.

Marie Hansbarger, R.N., nurse manager for the medical/surgical progressive care unit, explained that the advantage of the telemetry system is mobility for the patient. "Small monitors are attached to the chest, and signals are transmitted via antennae in the ceiling to the nurse station. Patients can begin increased motion and walking."

In the old days, a patient was spot-checked for vital signs, and a physician or nurse would know what was going on at the moment. The new monitoring equipment expands that knowledge to include comprehensive data over a period of hours, or since a patient checked in.

Vital signs are just that - vital. And sometimes, things from the old days are better left behind.

by CNB