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Dr. Bryce Taylor, Surgeon-in-Chief, University Health Network, with members of the surgical unit. Advanced technologies supported by Bell are giving medical staff unmatched capabilities to provide more timely and safer patient care.
When every second counts
When a metal pipe impaled a Toronto construction worker, medical personnel needed every second to save his life.
They got those seconds, thanks to Bell's advanced wireless communications technologies, part of a $1 million multi-year commitment to University Health Network's (UHN) surgical centre. The technology enabled the nursing team leader to assemble a surgical team in just minutes - far more rapidly than possible with a conventional paging system. And the life-saving surgery began soon after the patient's arrival.
Not an unusual story for the state-of-the-art Surgical Centre at the Toronto General Hospital. Opened in 2003, it is one of North America's most advanced facilities. With 19 surgical suites, the centre is equipped for everything from organ transplants and open-heart surgery to minimally invasive procedures. All are enhanced with the advanced technologies supported by Bell.
"With the help of this generous gift from Bell Canada, our surgical team at UHN will be able to provide better, more timely and safer care to our patients, and communicate with our healthcare partners locally and around the world," says Dr. Bryce Taylor, Surgeon-in-Chief of UHN.
Bell's support of wireless and fibre optic infrastructure gives doctors and nurses unmatched capabilities. For instance,
- staff can summon equipment, deploy experts and flag emergencies faster
- doctors can consult screens that display vital patient information during surgery
- surgeries can be captured on video and streamed live to specialists and students worldwide, for instantaneous consultation and education
- live images can also be sent to an adjacent operating room where, in transplant cases, another surgical team is waiting with an organ recipient
- nurses can monitor each OR from their nursing station, helping to keep families better informed
And in the Bell Canada Telesurgery Conference Room, installed near the Surgical Centre, staff can view live video feeds from any of the surgical suites.
