MDNews - Mid Hudson

PHOTOS © DON DEMPSEY, WHITE LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY COVER FEATURE The Next Generation of Emergency Department Medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital Brian Blaufeux, M.D., FACEP, takes down a patient’s history in the emergency department. THE HOSPITAL THAT PATIENTS ARE FAMILIAR WITH TODAY IS QUITE DIFFERENT THAN THE SANATORIUM THAT WAS FIRST BUILT IN 1902. BEYOND THE BRICK AND MORTAR CHANGES, HOWEVER, THE EVOLUTION OF GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL OVER THE PAST 109 YEARS IS A TESTAMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOSPITAL’S SERVICES. advancements continues in the emer- gency department (ED) with the launch of an innovative electronic medical records system and the use of therapeutic hypothermia, as well as an expansion to double its size. The 19-bed ED at Good Samaritan G Hospital sees roughly 35,000 patients each year. The hospital operates a full- service unit 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as a Fast Track unit of fi ve beds during the daily rush between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. for patients with mild illnesses and injuries, such as ankle sprains and sore throats. 6 | Mid Hudson MD NEWS  MDNEWS.COM OOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL’S commitment to staying in front of the curve in clinical medicine and patient care The staff includes a primary ED physi- cian, a second physician to assist with seeing patients during busier hours, a physician assistant and up to eight nurses. Each staff member has completed extensive emergency certification in specialties including advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life sup- port and trauma. Cold Temperatures Save Brain One of the leading causes for ED visits nationally is chest pain. While many hospitals invest their resources in cathe- terization labs and lowering the door-to-balloon time — the time spanning from when a patient arrives at the ED to the time he or she undergoes an angio- plasty — Good Samaritan Hospital offers patients experiencing cardiac arrest a cooler kind of treatment. In 2002, The New England Journal of Medicine published two studies — one the result of a European collaboration and the other from Melbourne, Australia — that investigated the potential posi- tive impact of decreasing a patient’s body temperature to preserve neuro- logical function after an incident of cardiac arrest. Dubbed “therapeutic hypothermia,” the practice was first used in the 1950s, but fell out of favor due to problematic and inconsistent application in hospitals. By cooling a patient’s core temperature, the treat- ment targets the reperfusion injury to the brain associated with return of circulation following a cardiac arrest.

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