Cardiac anaesthesiologists routinely use cardiac ultrasound to image the heart during valvular surgery, helping monitor cardiac function and improve surgical procedures.
A new portable ultrasound will help clinicians quickly and accurately locate veins and arteries for catheter insertion, making it easier to deliver fluids, medications and monitor patients. It will also support more informed clinical assessments by providing greater certainty, precision and an improved patient experience.
St Vincent’s currently has 13 anaesthesia ultrasounds across our operating suites, but many are now over ten years old and reaching the end of their working life.
Director of Anaesthesia, Associate Professor Brian Cowie explained that the grant was extremely useful and had enabled the department to replace one of its oldest ultrasound units. However, a further 12 machines need to be replaced to complete the modernisation – an investment of approximately $1million in total.
“While our fleet of ultrasounds are still effective, it is now like using a ten-year-old laptop. They were great in 2015 but can no longer do everything that’s required – the older machines are slow to power up, regularly ‘freeze’ or shutdown and they no longer have the functionality to perform high end imaging,” said Associate Professor Cowie.
“To enable our Anaesthesia physicians to provide the best possible care, we need to replace more of our older machines with a modern fleet.”
This year, the Edgar Foundation also generously donated more than $27,000 for two motorised wheelchairs, helping patients with limited mobility move safely and independently around the hospital.
The Edgar Foundation has supported St Vincent’s for more than 20 years and has been extremely generous in enabling us to purchase high-priority equipment for many medical teams across St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. We are very grateful for their support and to all our long standing and loyal donors who generously support us.
If you would like to learn more about supporting the purchase of vital equipment at St Vincent’s, please contact the St Vincent’s Foundation team on (03) 9231 3365 or foundation@svha.org.au.
