19 March 2024

Intensive Care patients at Grampians Health’s Horsham campus will be able to transfer more safely between clinical units after the installation of five new portable bedside monitors.

The Intellivue X3 monitors were donated through the generosity of Wimmera Base Hospital Ladies Auxiliary.

The devices connect to the bedside monitors of each ICU bed and provide the same patient information as the bigger versions. When patients need to be transferred to radiology or the operating suite, clinical staff can continue to safely monitor vital signs such as heart beat and blood pressure with complete accuracy.

ICU associate nurse unit manager Anne Russell said the monitors stored up to four hours of battery life which was ample for most medical transfers.

“We call them the ‘mini brain’ and the previous monitors had become obsolete so we are very grateful to the ladies auxiliary for funding the purchase of five brand new devices,” Ms Russell said.

“Our team can make these transfers with the confidence of knowing they have an accurate reading of their patient at all times.”

Pictured with one of the new ‘mini brains’ is ICU nurse Jainy Philip
while her colleague Laura Hutchins compares the vitals reading
on the main bedside monitor.