Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation is reaching out the community for donations to purchase equipment to help people in breathing distress.
Last year, more than 3,000 people visited the Port Moody hospital with difficulty breathing and Jim Gorton was one of them.
Struggling with complications due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Gorton could have died without the intervention of hospital staff who put him on a BIPAP (biphasic positive airway pressure) ventilator, which helps people who are unable to breathe adequately on their own. The BIPAP helps them take more effective breaths until they can return to a more normal breathing state.
Gorton said staff helped him get used to the ventilator and he now credits it with saving his life.
“It was not easy to be on a BIPAP ventilator and Anita, my nurse, was good at explaining what was going on. My experience coming out of it was I was so glad those people were there and that machine was there as it may have saved my life. I learned so much from the doctors, respiratory staff and nurses. My stay in the hospital was life changing,” Gorton said.
In hospital for eight days, Gorton was eventually able to return to his normal life.
His experience is not unusual, according to Dr. Julia Morley, who says she sees thousands of patients in the emergency department at ERH who need lifesaving help to breathe.
She is supportive of the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation’s campaign to raise $144,000 to purchase several critical ventilators.
“It is my wish to be able to treat every patient with breathing difficulties using the best equipment possible,” Morley said in a press release.
Equipment needed includes a BIPAP ventilator like the one that saved Gorton’s life as well as a portable transport ventilator, an Airvos, used to help adults and youth in respiratory distress and a Neopuff, used in infant emergencies as an assisted breathing device.
The equipment is key, said Charlene Giovannetti-King, ERH foundation executive director, noting that last year 3,241 patients of all ages were admitted to the ERH ER with respiratory issues.
“The community has always stepped up for Eagle Ridge Hospital. In fact, 60% of the new equipment purchased for ERH last year came from donations. We are grateful for the amazing support from our community,” stated Giovannetti-King in a press release.
