Belize City, Belize, January 21, 2021 (PAHO/WHO) – The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) donated a patient monitor, including accessories to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority (KHMHA) that will aid in monitoring and evaluating patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
As countries continue the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, patient monitors are essential monitoring systems for the management and care of patients. This particular monitor, however, comes with advanced features that include invasive blood pressure (IBP), 3/5-lead ECG, respiratory rate, pulse rate, oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring.
Specifically, the carbon dioxide monitoring plays an important factor in managing COVID-19 patients. It is common practice to monitor CO2 when medications to relieve pain or induce sleep are given, when oxygen is administered, or whenever a patient is intubated or outfitted with an artificial airway in order to assess if the patient is properly breathing.
“In critical cases of COVID-19, patient monitoring is necessary to observe and evaluate a patient’s care and physiological functions such as heart and respiratory rate,” said PAHO/WHO Representative Dr. Noreen Jack. “For these patients, it is crucial to have constant monitoring of their oxygen and CO2 levels, and this patient monitor allows for that and more.”
Additionally, this special monitor also has communication capabilities that include the ability to be connected to a Local Area Network (LAN), built-in Wi-Fi, and Nurse Call. More importantly, it is compliant with Health Level Seven (HL7) standards; international standards that allow for the exchange and transfer of data between multiple healthcare providers. Thus, these features make it easy for the monitor to communicate and co-work with the hospital information system and other hospital units.
Dr. Jack along with PAHO/WHO’s Health Systems and Services Advisor, Dr. Edwin Bolastig, handed over the monitor to the Chief Executive Officer of the KHMHA, Mrs. Michelle Hoare, and Dr. Adrian Coye, Acting Director of Medical Services at the KHMHA, who expressed their gratitude for the high-grade equipment on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the KHMHA.
“This is going to strengthen our response to COVID-19, especially for patients we operate on who are positive for SARS-CoV-2,” said Dr. Coye. “The key to this donation is that the monitor has invasive monitoring and entitled CO2 which is an extra step up from the usual patient monitors.”
As cases are still rising globally and locally, healthcare systems must remain prepared and equipped. PAHO/WHO Belize, working together with partners, will continue to procure materials and equipment and provide technical guidance and capacity building to the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the country.
