ST. CROIX — The Juan F. Luis Hospital on Thursday announced that its cardiac catheterization services at the Cardiac Center was “fully operational.” The release states that physicians, nurses and support team resumed providing services with the lab machine Thursday after corrective maintenance was completed Wednesday.
The service was suspended due to the failure of the fluoroscopy machine, which showed an error message that the hospital said needed to be addressed.
The cardiac catheterization lab machine is a Philips Allura Xper FD20/10 X-ray system. It is used for cardiac catheterization, pacemaker placement, and de-clotting of arteriovenous grafts and fistulas. According to a release issued last week by Erica Parsons, J.F.L.’s public information officer, the hospital’s protocol calls for the use of thrombolytic therapy to treat and stabilize a patient in the event someone presents with the symptoms of a heart attack. If further treatment is required, the patient will be transferred to the nearest available facility.
Cardiac catheterization is a medical procedure used to diagnose and treat some heart conditions. A long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter is put into a blood vessel in your arm, groin (upper thigh), or neck and threaded to your heart.
The hospital said it brought in the Philips vendor from off-island to perform a routine maintenance check, and was determined by that vendor that additional parts were needed to address the issue.
Tags: cardiac catheterization services, jfl, Juan F. Luis Hospital, us virgin islands
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