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Vital signs
T he Royal Veterinary College’s Queen Mother Hospital for
Animals (QMHA) has installed
new anaesthesia monitors that enable patients to be safely monitored at all times, including during CT scans when staff are not present in the CT room due to radiation safety.
The primary monitor is next to the patient during their CT and its leads are attached to the patient, giving vital information on how the patients’ heart and lungs are functioning.
Lisa Angell, Head Nurse - Anaesthesia at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, said: “As an anaesthesia nurse, when my patient is sedated or under anaesthetic, I want to be by their side monitoring their vital signs.
“When a patient is having a CT
scan, we are unable to stay with them,
so having comprehensive monitoring equipment with an additional screen
in our control room will enable us to continuously monitor our patients
for the duration of their procedure.
This will enable us to always monitor
their airway, breathing and circulation ensuring we see any changes to our patients’ status and act immediately if required.”
FUNDRAISING NEWS
Beating hearts
H orses with arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats)
will be more easily
diagnosed and monitored thanks to new ECG
equipment funded by the Animal Care Trust.
Arrhythmias are a common problem in horses and donkeys and the new ECG equipment will enable our equine vets to closely analyse their heart rates during exercise and match it to both speed and incline, giving a much more detailed diagnosis.
The new equipment can also be connected to Apple devices, enabling students to see and
Paws & Hooves Autumn 2019
analyse recordings more easily during their training.
The unit will also be used for student research projects including one with the Donkey Sanctuary where 24-hour ECGs in healthy donkeys will be recorded, establishing the number of premature beats expected in healthy animals.
This will provide invaluable information for assessment of donkeys with heart problems. as currently there is very little information about normal and abnormal rhythms in donkeys.
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