Bakersfield, California—February 2016… Soon to become the premier medical complex in Bakersfield, California, the new $27.6 million, 64,700-square-foot Rio Bravo Medical Center includes the Cancer & Imaging Center, with radiation and oncology services, and the Ambulatory Surgery Center. Part of the four-phase project’s first phase, the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) was installed within a shelled tenant space of the newly constructed medical building and consists of two operating rooms, a minor procedure room, and nine pre-op/post-op bed locations.
As with other such medical facilities, it is crucial that the ASC staff be able to stay in communication with patients and monitor emergency calls. To this end, systems contractor Integrated Electronics of Fresno, California, installed a Tech Works NC-Series Nurse Call communications system. The NC-Series is a tone- and light-based system that enables doctors, staff, and patients to summon staff, call for emergency nursing help, or cancel a nurse call from inside any room.
“Since the Rio Bravo ASC staff cannot see all pre-op/post-op beds with the curtains drawn, combination Patient Stations and Staff Emergency Stations were installed at each of the nine beds, with color-coded dome lights on the ceiling outside of the curtained area,” explains Integrated Electronics engineer Jacob Irion. “This allows the patients to call into a Nurse’s Master Station/annunciator [electrical signaling system] at the Nurse Station area. As a precautionary backup, all calls are sent to a Nurse’s Master Station/annunciator located in the staff break room. The restrooms are outfitted with pull cords adjacent to each toilet, which also activate the light outside of the room and contact both annunciators.”
Due to the potential risk involved with surgery and other “minor” procedures, the operating rooms and minor procedure room are also outfitted with Staff Emergency Stations to allow the staff to call for backup. Should there be a patient emergency, they have Code Blue buttons that alert the staff that a high-priority event has occurred, requiring immediate backup.
“For the Rio Bravo ASC project, we wanted a quality call system that looks good, is easy to install, and uses minimal cabling, yet could be delivered for a competitive price,” recalls Irion. “The Tech Works NC-Series system met all of our criteria and has performed very well.” This new version of Nurse Call can operate over existing copper wiring or over a CAT5 Ethernet cable, so Irion was able to go with CAT5 cable for this new facility, making installation easier and less expensive. In addition, NC-Series is modular and expandable, so if the Rio Bravo Medical Center wants to equip more stations in the future, Irion can easily accommodate them.
Irion also appreciated the support he received from Tech Works. “The Tech Works staff is very knowledgeable and courteous,” he notes, “and someone was always available to answer our questions and assist with design. With that kind of support, along with the features and high quality of the Nurse Call system, our client is delighted—and so are we.”
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