“It is so simple and logical to operate the monitors with touchscreen – if you know one you know them all,” says Dr. Luc Weibel, Head of Intensive Medicine, on why the staff opted for the Philips patient monitoring solution.
In an emergency situation, fast competent action and reliable teamwork can mean better outcomes. It is not only the nursing staff and doctors who have to work hand in hand, but the equipment that monitors and accompanies the patient must provide suitable support for all activities.
Dr. Luc Weibel, Head of Intensive Medicine
At Triemli Hospital in Zurich Switzerland, a flexible, networked IntelliVue Monitoring System promotes seamless monitoring of patients across departments.
A practical assessment
Critical to Dr. Weibel’s selection was his insistence that a single system support all areas:
- Emergency care
- Intensive care
- Cardiac catheterization lab
- Operating theater
- Recovery room
And be:
- User-friendly
- With few cables
- Adaptable to department needs
- Capable of processing data from other departments such as laboratories, radiology, etc.
For Triemli, the clear winner was the Philips IntelliVue Monitoring System in combination with an IntelliVue Information Center.
Put to the test
So how does the system perform in a real-life crisis? A morning page to Dr. Weibel demonstrates.
A 56-year-old patient with suspected myocardial infarction has arrived in the emergency room. Ventricular tachycardia with incipient pulmonary edema makes intubation and respiration necessary. The doctors can easily see the patient’s vital parameters, pulse, ECG curves, respiration values and blood pressure on the IntelliVue MP50 patient monitor. The monitor moves with the patient during transfer to the cath lab for immediate coronary angioplasty.
Suspicions are confirmed. The heart is dangerously damaged and only a bypass operation can save the patient’s life. It is scheduled for early morning.
Data stays with the patient
On arrival to the intensive care unit, patient data is transferred from monitor to monitor via the Multi Measurement Server on the MP50. The server is simply inserted into the larger MP70 monitor and all existing monitoring data and trends are immediately available.
“The simple and reliable transfer of data from one monitor to the next with the Multi Measurement Server is one of the best innovations from Philips,” praises Dr. Weibel. No data is lost and data can be retrieved at any time without extensive searching.
Keeping tabs
Throughout the night the IntelliVue Information Center displays the vital measurements of the 11 current intensive care patients. Relevant data is retrieved on the patient monitor and trends assessed to support treatment decisions.
“The system is intelligent and can reliably distinguish between important and unimportant data, detect dangerous trends and prioritize critical data, which makes work much easier," Dr. Weibel explains.
On duty in the OR
Morning time finds the patient on the move. The portable IntelliVue MP30 and the Multi Measurement server provide monitoring support while on the way to the operating theater. During the operation, the largest of the monitors takes over: the MP90 together with one of its two auxiliary displays.
Up to 13 parameters from Philips or other machines can be displayed simultaneously. In addition, exam results such as the coronary angiography of the previous day or the intraoperative cardiac echo can be included.
Completing the cycle
With the bypass done and the heart pumping better again, the patient is moved to the normal cardiology ward for recovery. Wireless IntelliVue Telemetry, with its patient worn device, enables the patient to move freely about the ward while transmitting patient ECG and SpO2 (optional) data back to the IntelliVue Information Center.
From admittance to rehabilitation, at Triemli Hospital this seamless flow of critical patient data across departments is aimed at providing efficient and effective care.
[Published: 2007-07-24]