A $9,000 gift from the Dorchester General Hospital Foundation has been used to purchase equipment that is saving lives in the intensive care unit and the emergency department at Dorchester General Hospital

Dorchester General Hospital now has two Medi-Therm® III Hyper/Hypothermia machines. This equipment is used to regulate a patient’s body temperature and prevent brain damage following cardiac arrest.

When they are treated with therapeutic hypothermia, patients are covered in body wraps that are connected by tubing to the Medi-Therm machine. Cooled water moves from the machine to the wraps that are placed around the person’s trunk, ankles and thighs. The patient stays connected to the machine for 72 hours, the time it takes to restore circulation and for the body to begin to heal from the trauma of a heart attack. Patient are sedated, placed on a ventilator and given medications to keep them comfortable while the hypothermia treatment is being given.

The Medi-Therm machine can only be used under prescribed circumstances. “Our nurses have been trained to use therapeutic hypothermia only with patients who will benefit from the treatment,” Cathy Weber, BSN, RN, CEN, manager of emergency services at DGH. “We work closely with the physicians who prescribe this therapy and follow guidelines that have been developed through scientific research.”

“Research shows that induced hypothermia improves neurologic survival if provided immediately following a cardiac arrest.” says Ryan Foster, MS, RN, NEA-BC, manager of the DGH critical care and multi-specialty care units. “Our nurses appreciate having this life-saving equipment that they can use with critically ill patients.”