Page 1; A I 51:01) February, I966 New Coronary Care Unit is opened to patients READY FOR ladiex made up the patient care team when the Coronary Care Unit was opened. They are (from left) Molly O?Kelly, Cochran. R.N.: Black. joyee Powell. jackie Isbell, Nancy Burns, Ellen Coleman. Ann iMeade. R.N. and head nurse: Bertie Alexander. nurse aide; Imogene Rose, floor .vecretary; Amy Nunnaly, nurse aide; Billie Cancel], nurse aide; jean Cooley, Betty Stubby. R.N. (inxtructor); Dana Ray. Mary A. Hill, churn" l? and ?Inf/?1' [ore/are No! Jhit/Irrell' Alma Annie and Rag-?fty) all (rider; Alma Burdine and Dorothy Lyles. floor secretariat and Jamex Appling. B. C. Chaney. C. I. Goode and William T. Griffith, attendants. One of the nation?s most modern and complete facilities for care of patients with acute coronary i11- nesses has been opened by Baptist Memorial Hospital on the third ?oor of the Building. The new Coronary Care Unit is ex- pected to save an average of a life a week. Dr. Maury Bronstein, Chief of Staff, said many of those lives will be among younger people who would nor- mally have many productive years re- maining. Eight of the unit?s 16 beds were opened at the outset with eight others available as the need and personnel materialize. Each of the beds is equipped with elec- tronic monitoring and metering devices which ?watch over? patients and in some instances will administer to the patient?s needs automatically. The electronic devices are not replace- ments for nursing personnel, but are tools which permit those on duty to do a better job more rapidly. Speed is often of the essence in treatment of coronary patients. ?Picture Windows" Used To assure each patient of constant vis- ual surveillance at all times, rooms in the unit have been grouped in four areas PRACTICE RUN [Mary Ann Hill and Ellen Coleman, perform their tax/m in ?treatment? of James Appling: atena?ant poiing as a patient. Q1 Fvln'ual'r, I966 II A I (j 0 I?m?"v of four each. Numerous ?picture win- dow? type walls make it possible for one nurse to have direct visual contact with four patients from a central desk. Each of the nursing stations is equipped with an instrument panel that contains an oscilloscope. The nurse merely pushes a toggle switch to see the immediate elec- trocardiogram on either of her four pa- tients. If an EKG indicates a patient prob- lem, and the nurse feels there is a need for a record of heart activities, she may flip another switch to place the action on chart paper contained in her desk unit. There are also oscilloscopes in each patient room, monitoring the pa- tient?s heart activities at all times. Each bed has a pacing machine that will re- act automatically in case of cardiac ar- rest or other change that falls outside tolerances pre?set into the machine ac- cording to the individual?s need. Two ?crash carts? carrying cardiac defibrillators offer additonal safeguards for the patient. They are normally used in extreme cases where the patient?s heart has gone into fibrillation (similar to a vibration) and it is necessary to re? activate the heart That is ac- complished with electrical impulse. De?br?uators may be ?59d either IMPORTANT Stubbi (right). nursing mmqu. exp/aim the rotating ternan'v or Internally? Slnco th-?re tourniquil iv J?u) Ru"; ?lad/21156 can (i?'d'iech bit/Ha" (u (in: (Continued on page 6) heart. AT THE Abe/l, R.N., .vity at one of four nuning which are equipped with a z'ariety of e/eeirouic devices. The stations are .s'tralegically located to uninterrupted vision of patient; in /our roomx. Page 6 (Continued from page 5) be no surgery in the new intensive care unit, most of their application will be external. In addition to the de?brillators. the unit has positive pressure oxygen equipment, an automatic tourniquet to reduce blood pressure to the heart and special chairs that appear normal, but have toilet facilities beneath the seats. Waiting Room Is Large There is a conference room for nurses and a room set aside as quarters for doctors. Extra attention has been given a large waiting room because friends and relatives of patients will have very limited visiting privileges. The waiting room has paneled walls and vivid furn- ishings. There are soft drink machines, telephones and a small prayer room in and adjoining the waiting area. The design and development of new coronary unit required the efforts of many people. Several members of the hospital staff visited similar facilities in other areas and from their reports it is felt Baptist drew the best points of de- sign and planning. Completion of the physical ?plant? did not, however, complete the unit. The 15 nurses who were present for the opening underwent several weeks of rig- orous training concerning the problems and care of coronary patients. Nearly 20 people, including 11 doctors, formed the teaching team for the nurses. Among the lecturers were Dr. Dan Copeland, Dr, Leo Wright, Harold Mur- rell of Pharmacy, Betty Malone and Cathy King on EKG, Mrs. Martha Gangi of the I.V, team and Pat Wakefield of American Optical Company. Memphis Heart Association provided much of the materials that were used. Others who lectured were Dr. Bron- stein, Dr. Norman Davis, Dr. Morris Pasternack, Dr. John Young, Dr. Robert Ackerman, Dr. Nathan Salky, Dr, Charles Dowling, Dr. Thomas Stern, Dr_ Frank Latham and Wayne Bearden. 022/ Time Flier! Four employees have completed five years of loyal service to Baptist Memo- rial Hospital and may obtain their anni- versary plates at the Personnel Office. Congratulations to: Mary K. Elam Admissions Johnny F. Malone Dietary Carol D. Martin, Nursery Leaon P. Payne X-ray February, I 966 THE BAPTISCOPE THE CRASH Burnt. R.N.. (lixplayi one 0/ the unit?.\ crash cartr that feature equipment designed to check fibrillation of the heart. The mac/liner do their work through electric impulse. PRAYER ROOM Chaplain Char/ex McKnight (right) and Rez'. Bill Lee. director 0/ the Baptivt Student Union for the Medical Units, chat in the Prayer Room of the Coronary Care Unit.