Working together to build a Healthy Community

CT scanner provides better view
CT scanners are not a onesize-fits-all
panacea. But in
selected situations they provide
an invaluable three-D look
into virtually any anatomical
area of the human body. “It’s
a great tool,” said Dr. Walter
Romano. “Not for everything –
but certainly in selected cases
it is ‘the’ tool. “And now that
Tillsonburg has it, in those
cases, it’s a huge win for us to
assist in the diagnosis and then
course of treatment for our
patients here at TDMH.”
The analogy Romano likes
to use is that of a loaf of bread.
X-ray technology provides a
‘two-D’ look at the entire loaf. A
CT scanner on the other hand,
allows medical staff to extract
any one of multiple ‘slices’ and
view it in exquisite 3-D detail
from all 360 degrees.
In most cases, says Romano,
this capability provides
a quicker, more accurate
diagnosis and as a result, access to
directed and expedited treatment. “It’s
made care, particularly in our emergency
department, much more streamlined,”
said Romano.
Tillsonburg’s CT scanner did not come
with additional operational funding and
as a result, its usage is essentially for
urgent (for example, stroke confirmation
or surgical use) and emergent (accident
Tanya Byers, Medical Radiation Technologist
prepares patient for a CT scan.
trauma) applications. “It has changed
the way we deliver care in certain areas
of the hospital,” said Romano of what
he describes as ‘another important tool’
for surgeons, interns and emergency
doctors.
The CT scanner’s presence also
provides additional benefits. In the
first place, real-time connectivity exists
with all eleven medical facilities in the
Thames Valley region through
Picture Archiving Communication
technology. Basically speaking, all
data collected by one CT scanner
is available throughout the region
guided by confidential and privacy
regulations for fulltime reading
and interpretation. This feature
provides an opportunity for
instantaneous access to experts
in other hospitals for feedback,
direction or preparation in the
case of a patient transfer, once
again, upgrading the timeliness
and level of care. Secondly,
CT scanners have become a
standard of care, and the fact
Tillsonburg has one is viewed as
an asset for both staff recruitment
and retention.
“We are able to help the
patients that need urgent and
emergent care and we are
hopeful, if we can secure more
funding, we will be able to offer
routine CTs that are necessary for
all our patients to access close
to home, that currently do not meet the
criteria of urgent or emergent scans,”
explained Lorelei Thompson, Service
Coordinator, Diagnostic Imaging.
In the meantime this CT technology
helps us offer the required CT’s for the
patients most at need here at TDMH
in a timely manner, and the results
directly enhance the circle of care for
our patients.
Life can change in a moment
Tom Hanson’s life changed in one cataclysmic fraction of a
second. His recovery has been long and is ongoing. But the
CT scanner at TDMH provided a crucial first step.
“That’s exactly right,” said his wife Ann, noting that the CT
scan precisely identified critical trauma whose nature may
have resulted in delayed diagnosis. “And I may have died,”
said Tom.
Tom remembers little of being struck while standing on the
sidewalk in Otterville last May in a chain-reaction vehicular
collision. Banged, bruised and scraped but without broken
bones, Hanson was rushed to TDMH’s Emergency Department
where a timely CT scan revealed a bleed on the brain, by far
the most serious and pressing issue.
Dr. Howie Lamb informed Ann of the diagnosis and Tom’s
impending transfer to London’s trauma unit. “And the
ambulance was there immediately,” she recalled.
The Hansons’ experience illustrates a CT scanner’s ability to
provide Page 4 - TDMH a rapid three-D look into virtually any anatomical area
of the human body.
Ann and Tom Hanson are thankful to Dr. Lamb and
the nursing staff for the wonderful care.
And while Tom can’t say enough about the quality and level
of human care he has received throughout, the couple is also
aware of the role that the state-of-the-art CT Scanner played,
and what its lack might have meant. “It could have been
disastrous,” said Ann. “It really could have.”
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