SUNDRE — The Sundre Hospital & Care Centre Auxiliary Society continues to keep alive a legacy started more than half a century ago by volunteers who fought to have the facility built.
A recent donation from the society facilitated the purchase of two GlideScope Go handheld intubation devices for the Myron Thompson Health Centre.
The device is a portable video camera used during intubation, which is a process of inserting a tube through the mouth and down the airway to help a patient who cannot breathe on their own, reads a press release issued by Alberta Health Services.
“The equipment enables a physician to better visualize a patient’s airway when in need of assisted ventilation, including during cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest or trauma,” reads a portion of the statement.
Above and beyond the purchase of the GlideScope Go devices — worth $12,800 — the society also covered the expense for a $900 supply of single-use spectrums, which are attached to the units and changed for each patient, representing a total cost of $13,700.
The society has upward of 20 dedicated members as well as numerous additional volunteers who raise funds largely through sales at the Sundre Thrift Shop, which is managed by the non-profit organization, and who also keep the hospital’s gift showcase filled with a variety of handmade items as well as receive individual and memorial donations in honour of loved ones.
To date, the auxiliary has donated more than $1.2 million in necessary equipment for healthcare in Sundre over the years .