Lights of Love campaign funds new equipment at Westerly Hospital

Westerly - Two new life saving instruments are now in use in both the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Department at the Westerly Hospital, and both were purchased with donations from the community to the Westerly Hospital Auxiliary’s Lights of Love campaign this winter.

Called glidescopes, or video laryngoscopes, these instruments use a high resolution digital camera connected to a high resolution LCD monitor. Glidescopes are most commonly used to view a patient’s airway during difficult tracheal intubations. The procedure is frequently performed in critically injured, ill or anesthetized patients to facilitate ventilation of the lungs and prevent asphyxiation or airway obstruction.

In addition to providing donations for hospital equipment, the auxiliary also provides scholarships to five local residents pursuing health care studies.