Equipping RUH’s ICU Expansion
Dr. Susan Shaw has spent her career finding out what’s wrong with a patient before it’s too late. In the intensive care unit (ICU) at Royal University Hospital (RUH), portable ultrasounds help her do that at the bedside, in real time.
“You can actually see inside, and see the heart pumping,” says the critical care physician. “Is it pumping well? Is it needing support?”
This fall, RUH Foundation is raising $350,000 for two portable ultrasound machines and a cardiac probe, giving physicians the best imaging technology available when the ICU expansion opens.
Construction crews are at work inside RUH now, creating a brand-new space for patients. When they’re finished, the intensive care unit will have 26 single-patient rooms, up from 19 beds today.
Patients in RUH’s ICU are the sickest in the province, and nearly all of them need multiple ultrasounds during their stay. These tools help the team sort out why someone is in shock, whether a lung is congested, or where a needle is going during a central line insertion – a procedure most ICU patients require.
“I was first trained years ago to do it without any equipment,” says Dr. Shaw, who previously served as Chief Medical Officer of the Saskatchewan Health Authority. “Now, I can actually watch myself do it inside the patient.”
Clearer images make the procedure safer and help her teach the residents who train alongside her almost every shift.
The new machines will produce sharper images, and having one in both areas of the ICU means a patient never has to wait.
“Seconds matter in my world,” says Dr. Shaw. Her patients are living with failing organs, and the faster her team can see what’s happening, the faster they can act.
“Not only does it make it easier for me to do my job well, it gives me the information I need to save lives.”
Your gift puts that information at the bedside when the new unit opens.
“You might be buying a machine, but it’s really about what this machine helps people do,” says Dr. Shaw.
Dr. Susan Shaw, anesthesiologist and critical care specialist in the ICU
