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Important information about the LSU suction unit

It has come to PROP’s (Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program) attention that the internal battery of the LSU (Laerdal Suction Unit) suction machine, as seen in the picture above, has been recalled. This does not mean that your LSU is defective, or that we need to replace it, but it does require your attention.

The Issue

LSU suction machines have been found to “shut down” when the batteries have a low temperature (0-9oC) and the LSU is set to 350 or 500 mmHg of pressure.

PROP’s Recommendation

When using, storing or transporting your LSU suction machine, do not place it in a cold environment (ie: airplane checked baggage, trunk of vehicle, etc). If your LSU suction has been exposed to cold temperatures:

  1. disconnect the LSU from the catheter
  2. turn the LSU on to full pressure (500mmHg)
  3. let the LSU run for 10 minutes

This will warm the battery to ensure your LSU will function properly.

If you experience this precise issue, please contact PROP (1-866-326-1245 or info@bcits.org) so we can advise you on solutions and we can document the issue and bring it to the manufacturer’s attention.

Moving Forward

The manufacturer, Laerdal, is working on a solution to the issue, and if this solution requires repair/replacement of your LSU suction, the PROP team will contact you to facilitate the service.

Thank you for your patience as we work with Laerdal to find a long-term, safe solution to this issue.

Report from the 2016 AGM

On September 28, 2016 BCITS held its AGM at the Pearson Centre. I am happy to report that the membership of the Board remains unchanged. If you have not done so in the past, you can meet our board members here.

In her report to the membership, our Chair Christine Gordon gave a heart felt reflection on the sad loss of two of BCITS’s founding members, Simon Cox and Jeanette Andersen. She reminded us of the invaluable contributions made by each of them. 

Without Jeanette’s support there may never been a Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program (PROP). Her steady optimism, kindness and openness were vital to keep the campaign to establish PROP going. 

Simon, a deeply caring leader who steered BCITS through some stressful times, facilitated the bringing together of the PROP and the TIL (Technology for Independent Living) program. To honour his legacy and lifelong commitment to innovation, TIL’s annual student design competition, which was so dear to his heart, will be renamed “The Simon Cox Design Competition”.

The Board reaffirmed its commitment to complete an ongoing Strategic Planning process in the next few months to ensure a solid future for TIL.

BCITS has always been a peer driven organization. This past year we had two peers on the staff`: Nancy Lear in the role of the Peer Support Facilitator and Mark Stockbrocks who worked with TIL. We will continue exploring ways to have peers on our staff team and welcome the ongoing guidance from our membership who shape and direct our programming.

Our annual fund raising event that took place on September 15th, saw BCITS partner for the 4th time with the Kinsmen to co-host a golf tournament. After a fun day of golfing, participants enjoyed a dinner hosted by Mark Madryga from Global BC and Jim Watson from the Kinsmen.

The Board has decided to take a different direction with our fundraiser next year and is hoping to have an event in which our membership can participate more fully.  At this stage we don’t know what the event will be but watch this space for any future announcements. As our relationship with the Kinsmen remains strong we do hope they will continue to be on board for our new, future fundraising events.  

I would like to finish this summary about our AGM by thanking the Board. Our Board members are a team of hard working, committed individuals. Last year they were involved with strategic planning; financial planning and reviewing; attending working groups and committees on programming initiatives; helping with fundraising and fundraising ideas and more. I look forward to continuing working with them in the year ahead.

 

Development of respirators

Respiratory support has improved drastically over the last few generations. It has been a remarkable journey considering 60 years ago a patient requiring respiratory support had no alternative but to be confined to an Iron Lung, a negative pressure stationary metal chamber. At the office of BCITS, we happen to have one of these relics! Check it out on our history page here in the historical gallery. Or drop by for a visit.

The Polio Epidemic of the early 20th century became “the most feared disease of childhood and adolescence”. Those were frightening time. Poliomyelitis was highly infectious. If you were lucky to survive, you would be left with lifelong disabilities. One big complication from Polio is the eventual paralysis of the breathing muscles. There are pictures of rows of Iron Lungs and patients would be confined to these institutions.

rows-of-iron-lungs

These Irons lungs were big and bulky. They worked by having the patient in an airtight space and manipulating the pressures around the chest. People were living their lives locked inside these metal shells. This was clearly not sustainable and more funding and research went towards unlocking positive pressure ventilation.

Currently, there are many brands of ventilators available. Despite all the different models and shiny cases, positive pressure is the form of delivery they have in common. The air and pressure is generated externally with a turbine and pushed to the patient. Modern day home ventilators are much more versatile and increasingly smaller and therefore more portable, thanks to the development of microprocessors.

respirators

Click on the Follow Button at the bottom of the screen to get notified when part 2 in this series becomes available. This is brought to you by Patrick Cho, Respiratory Therapist with the PROP (Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program) department.

A knowledge exchange trip to Ottawa’s CANVent Program

It is always interesting to compare respiratory services between different provinces. So when Esther Khor and Lily Cheung, both respiratory therapists (RTs) with PROP (Provincial Respiratory Outreach Program), were recently invited to visit a Home Ventilation Program in Ottawa, CANVent (Canadian Alternatives in Noninvasive Ventilation), they were very much looking forward to the opportunity.

What is unique about the CANVent Program is its central role within the community in identifying individuals who are at risk and preventing serious or life-threatening complications such as respiratory failure. Through its work, the Program has raised the level of awareness among specialists that individuals with neuromuscular diseases, whether in hospital or the community, are at high risk for respiratory complications and that education and noninvasive airway management (NIVAM) strategies may significantly reduce or eliminate this risk.

The CANVent Program resides in the Ottawa Hospital, and patients are seen here for their breathing tests and assessments. One patient Esther & Lily met, lamented on the hourly drive to the hospital, as it must be challenging during the winter months. However, the care and smiles from the respiratory therapists and physicians definitely made up for it! Mary and Kathy were the RTs the PROP team shadowed that day and who shared their knowledge graciously. Esther and Lily are looking forward to using what they have learned at CANVent to better care for their PROP clients in BC!

You can find more information at CANVent.

103–366 East Kent Ave. South
Vancouver BC, V5X 4N6

PROP: 1-866-326-1245
TIL: 604-326-0175

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