Page 54 - Robeson Living Summer 2020

State-of-the-art equipment enhances caregiver safety

during COVID-19
J

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.
L
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a SR
M M By Roxana Ross
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s Employees of SRMC’s Intensive Care Unit display LUCAS mechanical CPR equipment recently purchased for C The field of neonatal
s their department by the Southeastern Health Foundation. therapy is relatively
e Earlier this year, the Southeastern Health Foundation purchased include the use of the LUCAS for facilities, like ours, who are NI new, and Southeastern
l a LUCAS hands-free, mechanical CPR system for Southeastern fortunate enough to have one.” Health’s Southeastern
w Regional Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit. The $16,000 pur- CU Regional Medical
h chase would prove to be a timely one as the impact of coronavirus Other benefits of the system include eliminating the need to man- Center is very proud to
i became more and more apparent during early March. age a manual compression rotation schedule as well as freeing up off have two therapists
t “In February, the LUCAS system was purchased to serve as an ad- the caregiver to focus on other equally critical tasks. who can work in the
specialized
highly
e ditional resource for the Code Blue Team,” said SeHealth Critical “When our board approved this purchase for SRMC’s ICU, they ers environment of the
Care Director Anita Thurman, a nurse practitioner with a doctor- were ahead of the curve, really, in placing our staff in the saf- Neonatal Intensive
ate in nursing practice. “Little did we know then, this piece of est scenario possible as they treat patients who may have CO- rar Care Unit (NICU).
equipment would be a key tool in Code Blue response and recov- VID-19,” said SeHealth Foundation Executive Director Sissy Since 2016,
ery amid COVID-19.” Grantham. “These healthcare providers are on the front line of Occupational Therapist
defense and anything we can do to minimize their exposure while e and Inpatient Rehab
According to the equipment’s distributor, LUCAS helps provide providing care using cutting edge technology is the best case sce- Services Coordinator
high-quality and safer chest compressions in situations such as nario not only for them but also for our patients.” ne Jyutika Zope and
patient movement and transportation, during prolonged CPR.
The COVID-19 CARES Act now allows for non-itemized tax de- Physical Therapist
The mechanical CPR system allows for hands-free compressions, ductions of up to $300 given to non-profits, like SeHealth, who on William Hunt have
breat which led to recommendations for use during COVID-19 because are involved with efforts related to coronavirus. To make a dona- been working with
he of limited contact by the caregiver. tion to the SeHealth Foundation, visit www.srmc.org/foundation ata full-term and
bette click on “Give Now” and designate your gift for COVID-19 in the premature babies at
r in “Since the COVID-19 outbreak, all guidelines have been modi- comments section. l SRMC. Their work is
his fied to minimize exposure,” added Thurman. “These guidelines Robeson Living ~ Summer 2020 aided by upgrades
slee the made in 2017 to the
p. unit, which can care
for babies born up to
rap 10 weeks early.

work y “Not a lot of therapists
in the go into the NICU,”
highly
special Hunt said. “It requires
additional training and
ized mentorship, and
enviro
nment because it’s so
specialized, it can be
of the hard to find people to
Neona
tal mentor you in this
conduct
area.
We
Intensi evaluations, develop
ve
Care treatment plans, and
Unit as they gress to go
home, we integrate the
(NICU SeHe
). Since family into that plan.”
2016, alth
Occup
ational anno
Thera
pist unce
and
Inpatie s new
nt
Rehab walk-
Service
s
Coordi in
nator
Jyutika clin
Zope
and
Physic
al
Thera
pist
Willia
m
Hunt
have
been
workin
g with
full-
term
and
premat
ure
babies
at
SRMC.
Their
work is
aided
by
upgrad
es
made
in
2017
to the
unit,
which
can
care
for
babies
born
up to
10
weeks
early.

“Not a
lot of
therapi
sts go
into
the
NICU,
” Hunt
said.
“It
require
s
additio
nal
trainin
g and
mentor
ship,
and
becaus
e it’s so
special
ized, it
can be
hard
to find
people
to
mentor
you in
this
area.
We
conduc
t
evalua
tions,
develo
p
treatm
ent
plans,
and as
they
progre
ss to go
home,
we
integra
te the
family
into
that
plan.”

Kayla
White,
of
Lumbe
rton, is
a nurse
at
SRMC
who is
also a
parent
of a
child
who
went
throug
h the
NICU.
Her
son,
Harris
on,
who
turns 1
this
weeken
d, was
born
six
weeks
early
but is
now
thrivin
g.