Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital (RSMH) has replaced and upgraded an emergency ventilator through a donation from the Eastern Virginia Healthcare Coalition. Funding was provided through a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services and distributed through the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.
Ventilators mechanically move breathable air in and out of a patient’s lungs and are critical to survival for patients who are physically unable to breathe or are breathing insufficiently.
The new ventilator is designed to be used during emergency or disaster situations, when a surge of patients means that having an extra ventilator could save lives. It offers flexibility in critical situations since it can be used for both pediatric and adult patients and has the added benefit of being portable so that ventilated patients can be safely moved within the hospital.
RSMH respiratory staff are currently training on the new equipment to familiarize themselves and to be prepared for any upcoming emergency.