Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point Underscores Patient Safety Commitment Through Expanded Use of Capnography

CROWN POINT, Ind., July 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point recently expanded its use of capnography for respiratory monitoring outside the operating room, joining a growing group of healthcare leaders in embracing state-of-the-art patient safety technology.

Capnography measures how effectively patients are breathing and can alert medical caregivers when life-threatening respiratory depression occurs. By measuring the amount of carbon dioxide the patient is exhaling, capnography serves as the earliest indication of evolving respiratory compromise, which can lead to significant morbidity or even cardiopulmonary arrest if undetected.

Long used in operating rooms to monitor patients under general anesthesia, hospitals committed to patient safety are now deploying capnography to monitor the quality of patients' breathing in other care areas where respiratory depression may occur. Early indication of respiratory depression with capnography enables medical staff to intervene before serious adverse events happen.

The Joint Commission, the nation's leading hospital accreditation organization; the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices have all recommended monitoring exhaled carbon dioxide with capnography to detect respiratory depression.

Franciscan St. Anthony Health is among the nation's leaders in the early implementation of capnography monitoring outside of the operating room.

"Franciscan St. Anthony Health always has made patient safety its top priority. The decision to expand capnography use outside of our operating rooms further demonstrates this pledge through excellent care using superior technology," hospital President David Ruskowski said. "We are glad to add this advanced equipment that will give our physicians and staff the latest tool to enhance patient outcomes."

Franciscan St. Anthony Health chose capnography equipment from Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products and recognized innovator in patient monitoring and respiratory care devices.

"We commend Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point for joining hospitals across the nation committed to patient safety through the use of capnography," said Matt Anderson, Vice President and General Manager, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions for Covidien. "And we appreciate its choice of Covidien's capnography technology as an excellent choice for monitoring patients."

About Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point 

Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point is part of Franciscan Alliance. A trusted leader in providing faith-based, integrated health care, Franciscan Alliance brings together the latest technology, innovative procedures and the brightest, most compassionate people to serve our patients in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Throughout 13 hospitals and many medical practices, Franciscan Alliance offers a number of nationally recognized Centers of Health Care Excellence.

For more than 135 years, Franciscan Alliance has stayed true to a founding mission to care for everyone, who comes through its doors. Patients receive the best possible care through practices that follow the guiding, ethical values embodied by its founding congregation, the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. Always mindful of Christian stewardship to the Roman Catholic Church, Franciscan Alliance ministers with joy, care and compassion according to the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi and its founder, Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel. 

SOURCE Franciscan Alliance