Who do you help when you give to SAHF?
Meet Mary.
Mary is a Medical Radiation Technologist in our Diagnostic Imaging Department.
Mary’s x-ray images are an important tool for our doctors when they’re trying to figure out what might be wrong. Sometimes, patients are too sick to get an x-ray in Diagnostic Imaging, so Mary has to bring a portable x-ray to them.
Last year, donations to SAHF bought Mary and her colleagues a brand new portable x-ray machine.
The new machine is more compact and lightweight. It’s easier to clean and sanitize, and it gets quicker results. Mary was excited when the new portable x-ray arrived – but now that our hospital has to worry about COVID-19, she so relieved to have this technology.
You see, when a patient could have COVID-19, they don’t go to x-ray in the Diagnostic Imaging department – someone like Mary brings the portable x-ray to them. Before Mary visits a COVID-19 possible patient, she has to gear up in full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – which includes a lead shield, gown, gloves, mask, and face shield. She has to carefully clean and sanitize the machine for every use, and carefully dispose of the PPE when she is done.
The old portable x-ray unit would have made Mary’s job much harder right now. The old unit was heavy and hard to move, and x-ray images had to be manually loaded into the hospital’s computers. That would mean x-ray techs like Mary may have to go back and forth between the imaging department and the patient’s room several times to redo images. With our current COVID-19 precautions, that could mean changing in and out of several sets of PPE (using up critical supplies), and longer delays between patients. Thank goodness we got that new portable x-ray before COVID-19 hit!
On behalf of Mary, and her colleagues, we’re passing on their thanks.
Our donors are heroes to our DI team.
The equipment we value so much today never would have arrived if it wasn’t for their generous donations.
The new portable x-ray unit is just one of many examples where our hospital’s drive to keep up with current medical technology has had huge benefits in our fight against COVID-19. We need to ensure our tools are high quality, and kept up-to-date, in case of any emergency that hits.
This year, our hospital plans to purchase a second portable x-ray unit (we could only afford one last year), as well as dozens of other pieces that will be critical to so many health battles in the future.
With every donation you make, you become a hero for someone else in our hospital – helping us diagnose, track, and treat tens of thousands of patients every year.
Give now at https://www.sahfoundation.com/hero
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