From now on, finding veins won’t be such a shot in the dark at Shuswap Lake General Hospital, thanks to a new vein finder.
While lab techs have little trouble finding veins in most patients, some have theirs well hidden.
Shuswap Lake Health Care Auxiliary donated $7,378 for the purchase of the new equipment that will contribute to patient care and comfort.
“The vein finder uses ultraviolet light that enables techs to see the vein through the skin,” says hospital manager Mark Pugh, noting the equipment is on wheels and is used throughout the hospital. “It’s kind of neat, you can see your blood coursing through your veins and is particularly useful for paediatric and geriatric populations or those people with difficult-to-find veins.”
Auxiliary president Edie Swanson says the funds were raised through various events held throughout the year – a garage and bake sale at the Mall at Piccadilly, the Mother’s Day Footsteps For Our Future walk, which is geared towards women’s health, and Christmas gift-wrapping in December.
Swanson says donations continued following the Mother’s Day walk, where funds are used to support women’s health, so the entire $18,000 cost of two new hysteroscopes was covered.
“Ninety per cent of hospital auxiliaries have a thrift shop,” says Swanson, noting they are huge funding sources. “The Revelstoke auxiliary helps out sometimes, because people come here (to Shuswap Lake General). We work hard for the money.”
All the money the auxiliary raises stays in Salmon Arm.
Swanson says it took three years to raise the money for the hysteroscope and the group will continue to raise funds “little by little” in order to support local health care.