A brand new HAMILTON C-6 Intensive Care Ventilator is now in use at Peace Arch Hospital, thanks to a generous donation by TB Vets. Intended to be used by Respiratory Therapists and other qualified healthcare personnel under the guidance of a physician, this new machine will help provide mechanical ventilation (breathing support) for local infants, children, and adult patients.  

Specialty ventilators like this are used on patients who require intubation during surgery, or if they are having trouble breathing. The alternative to machines like this involves providing patients with mechanical ventilation, which takes a lot of time and manual labour. With medical staff resources stretched thin and an increasing need to meet best practice standards, Peace Arch Hospital’s new ventilator will provide a safe, high-quality, and simplified solution for supporting the complex respiratory needs of patients.  

“The C-6 Ventilator is very reliable and precise,” says Prab Gakhl, Respiratory Therapist at Peace Arch Hospital. “Recently, we had a newborn baby who needed assistance with breathing. Typically, we would have had to hold CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) manually on a baby using dry gas with a T-piece resuscitator.” 

“At our site, any newborn requiring respiratory support needs to be transferred to a NICU. In recent months, there have been lengthy delays with transport teams arriving, and in this case, it took more than eight hours for the transport team to arrive. Without this new ventilator onsite, a Respiratory Therapist would have had to manually hold CPAP with a facemask to this patient for the entire eight-hour wait.” 

The HAMILTON C-6 Ventilator was purchased by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, who funds more than $1 million in critical medical equipment each year. TB Vets Charitable Foundation contributed $30,000 towards the purchase of the equipment.  

“We are so proud to be able to offer this new life-saving tool at Peace Arch Hospital,” Gakhl says. “Thank you to Peace Arch Hospital Foundation and TB Vets Charitable Foundation for making this new ventilator possible!”