Community Members Donate Guided Technology for PICC Line Placement
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/ Categories: NEWS, 2019

Community Members Donate Guided Technology for PICC Line Placement

Caption: (Standing) Chelsea Foy, RN; Darcy Main, RN, CRNI, VA-BC; Anne Farrara, Deb Farrara; and Jacqueline Reyman RN, CRNI, VA-BC (Seated) Bob Farrara and Tanya Cowder, MSN, RN, CNOR, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s senior director of Perioperative and Interventional Services. (Missing from photo: Melissa A. Spiezio, RT(R)(M), director of Imaging Services)

BENNINGTON, VT—December 23, 2019—The Interventional and Perioperative Services Departments at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC)—part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC)—received a special gift from donors Bob and Anne Farrara of Eagle Bridge, NY.

The couple donated $10,000 for the purchase of an Arrow Vascular Positioning System (VPS) G4 Device from Teleflex. The machine expedites the placement of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) lines—a long thin tube inserted into a vein in the heart. PICC lines remain in place long term and provide clinicians convenient access to deliver intravenous (IV) antibiotics, nutrition, or medications or to draw blood over several encounters without the need for a needle stick.

“Everyone’s heart anatomy is a little different,” said Tanya Cowder, MSN, RN, CNOR, SVMC’s senior director of Perioperative and Interventional Services. “Just as a GPS system helps you navigate your car to your destination, this new technology helps clinicians place the PICC catheter tip in the optimal location for treatment.”

Before this technology was available at SVMC, a radiologic technologist would need to take a chest X-ray, and a radiologist would need to read it in order to determine catheter tip placement. This machine uses a sophisticated biosensor, rather than X-rays. It allows nurses with specialized training to place PICC lines and validate that the placement is accurate. The technology eliminates both the delay in initiation of therapy and the patients’ exposure to the radiation X-rays emit. 

The Farraras have donated to SVHC for many years. A number of their gifts have supported equipment needs.

“SVMC is a great place,” noted Bob. “When I am here, I feel like I am home. The staff are caring.”  

“We are so grateful to the Farraras for helping to bring this technology here for our patients and the teams who care for them,” Cowder said. “We will all enjoy the streamlined care experience this new equipment provides.”

For information about supporting important clinical advances, visit svhealthcare.org/support-us or call 802-447-5017.

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices. For more information, visit svhealthcare.org.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

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Moving Forward Safely

One of the most frustrating and anxiety-producing traits of our COVID –19 pandemic is how much uncertainty is involved in all aspects of this disease. Symptoms caused by the Coronavirus, age groups affected, the usefulness of medications, anticipated death rate, and the timeline for development of a vaccine are examples of information that sometimes change on a weekly basis.

Vermonters have done a great job of limiting the spread of the virus and protecting our most vulnerable neighbors by following the Governor's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order over the past few months. Now, we've all been directed to wear masks in public. Both Bennington and Wilmington's Select Boards have passed local mandates requiring masks in public places. Thanks to these efforts—along with distancing, handwashing, and other factors—Vermont is among the states with the fewest number of infections. Continuing each of these important infection-prevention strategies is crucial to returning to a more normal way of life.

As we open up and begin to re-connect, we fully expect to see a rise in COVID –19 cases in Vermont. Thankfully, we have had time to prepare for this increase. We also have adequate PPE, and increased testing will help us gather crucial information for stemming the spread with less disruption to our normal lives.

More than ever, I find it helpful to focus on what we have learned and how it can help us move forward safely. Here is some of what we have learned so far: Most large hospitals, often treating over 1000 COVID patients daily, effectively protected their workers by obsessively following the rules of screening, hygiene, distancing, and masking. Each of these components is designed to work together; Each alone has its inherent limits.

  • Absent quick testing at the workplace, the best screening is asking employees if they have COVID-like symptoms (fever, chills, new cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of taste or smell) and to stay home if they do.
  • Washing our hands (or using sanitizer) after touching well-handled items or visiting populated areas. Washing your hands 10 times daily is not too often.
  • Though an uncovered sneeze or cough can travel farther, 6 feet distancing continues to be the sweet spot for safety.
  • Masks (double layer cotton and surgical) are effective to prevent spreading of large and some small droplets containing virus. They also seem to give some minimal protection to those wearing a mask. Since possibly 40 percent of transmission happens when we do not have symptoms, we wear our masks to protect others and to suppress overall infection rate. They also help many people (not all) to avoid touching their face. The downside is a warm chin; the upside is you may be protecting someone from a significant illness. Masks are not a symbol of government intrusion. Masks are simply a tool to protect others and show empathy.

It is difficult to predict how many COVID-19 infections will occur in our communities in the coming months. What I am certain of is that our choices, on where we go and what we do, often affect the safety of those around us. As we learn to live with this virus in our community, following the recommendation above will help us all.

Marie George, MD, is SVMC’s infectious disease specialist.

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