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The Latest High Technology Services in From specially equipped rooms for trauma to on-site diagnostics, The Emergency Department at Saint Barnabas Medical Center uses many life-saving technologies. Following is a description of the newest advances that are helping to save time and to allow the medical staff to provide the most advanced care possible. Expanded, State-of-the-art Facility: As of November 1, the Emergency Department staff moved into the first part of a newly renovated and greatly expanded facility. The space has grown from 13,473 square feet to 19,634 square feet and the number of patient exam rooms has almost doubled, from 24 to 41 rooms. In addition to the existing critical care area, the renovated pediatric section of the emergency department now features its own state of-the-art critical care area and includes three additional pediatric exam rooms to supplement the existing six rooms. The $5.4 million renovation will be completed by the end of February 2001. Emergency Department Information Management (EDIM): In the old days of medical care, emergency physicians would keep all vital patient information in a folder or "chart" during the patient's stay. In today's computer age, a program called the Emergency Department Information Management (EDIM) system has revolutionized the way the Emergency Department at Saint Barnabas cares for patients. The most important feature of EDIM is that the medical staff can retrieve all pertinent patient information at a glance of a computer screen, including the time each patient registers, how many patients are being treated and the seriousness of each person's condition. Physicians can immediately access the status of any patient and find out which tests have been completed, thus decreasing the overall waiting time of patients. EDIM also allows the staff to view a patient's previous medical records instantly. Camera for Domestic Violence Cases: The Emergency Department uses a specialized Polaroid® camera kit, called the Injury Documentation Kit, to record evidence of domestic and child abuse and assist victims. The high-definition Spectra camera uses a sonar autofocus and ten-zone lens system that give detailed, full-color photographs instantly. Minute details of injuries are captured with this camera, which is also used by police domestic-affairs officers. The instant pictures can provide documentation to support a legal case against an abuser by providing a history of abuse and reinforcing the physician's diagnosis. Pocket Radio Telephones: Instead of listening for an overhead page and then locating a wall telephone, attending emergency physicians wear clip radio phones, enabling them to never have to leave a patient's side when responding to a call. Generally these calls, which are forwarded to the clip phones from an Emergency Department staff member, are from an attending physician whose patient is in Emergency Department. The clip phones allow the outside physician to confer about his or her patient without delay. The phones also give the physician the option not to answer the call -- if the situation warrants -- as the call bounces back to a staff member after four rings. Clip phones operate on a very low frequency and do not affect patient monitoring equipment. I-STAT: In an effort to bring laboratory testing to bedside as much as possible, the Emergency Department has adapted I-STAT portable chemistry analyzers to their work. The I-STAT reads a few drops of blood from a patient's finger and provides six different laboratory test results in about 90 seconds. Previously, such tests required blood work to be sent to a laboratory in the Medical Center. By reducing the time it takes to receive test results, the I-STAT allows patients to be diagnosed more rapidly and discharged or admitted more quickly. [ top ] |
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