Vitoria-Gasteiz, October 17, 2022. The SEPAR Patients working group of the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) has held the 5th SEPAR Congress of Respiratory Patients, with the collaboration of Philips. Under the slogan “Breathing together the air of Vitoria-Gasteiz”, the celebration of this event has ensured the respiratory health of the inhabitants of a city committed to reducing emissions into the environment and with environmental care programs.
The SEPAR Congress of Respiratory Patients has a distinctive character since it is a congress made by and for patients. Through a participatory modality, patients, representatives of patient associations and medical professionals have discussed respiratory health with the point of view of the patient and their relatives as the central axis.
Among the topics discussed, the event program has delved into COVID-19, COPD and multidisciplinary management, a topic through which the effectiveness demonstrated by the Intermediate Respiratory Care Units (UCRI) has been valued. Especially during the health crisis caused by the pandemic, these respiratory care units guaranteed the necessary continuity of care and contributed to decongesting critical care units. It is estimated that these units avoided almost 50 percent of admissions for Covid-19 in ICUs.
The UCRI, non-invasive care for severe respiratory patients
The IRCU is the alternative for seriously ill patients who do not require admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but require exhaustive monitoring and comprehensive respiratory support that they could not receive in a conventional hospitalization ward. Therefore, this technological innovation makes it possible to provide assistance to populations with respiratory problems and relieve their burden in the emergency room, while respecting the patient with monitoring techniques and non-invasive respiratory support, with sedation and assisted breathing.
Likewise, the IRCU allows continuous monitoring of post-surgical chest patients or patients with mechanical ventilation through tracheotomy and the treatment of critical patients with difficulty in weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).
Inauguration of the mobile UCRI
In order to bring practical solutions to patients with serious respiratory pathologies, Philips has joined this project to build and make available a mobile ICU destined for Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, providing the ventilation and monitoring equipment, thanks to which All necessary parameters are obtained from a patient in an IRCU environment.
The mobile UCRI project has been designed with the aim of improving the quality of health care in developing countries and having the ability to join a reference hospital. “What we want to achieve with this mobile UCRI is to explain to people why UCRIs save lives. These units are also used to treat respiratory insufficiencies in non-COVID patients and therefore all hospitals must have access to non-invasive respiratory support,” says Dr. Olga Mediano, a pulmonologist who is an expert in sleep and ventilation and coordinator of the SEPAR Year of Care. Intermediate Respiratory.
Within the framework of the 5th SEPAR Congress of Respiratory Patients, the city of Vitoria has been the starting point of the journey that this mobile UCRI will carry out throughout the national territory and will continue its journey making stops in cities such as Bilbao, Salamanca, Madrid and ending in Granada in 2023.
Once the journey through the peninsula is complete, it will move to the African continent to provide support in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, becoming a semi-permanent or permanent unit of a local hospital. “Philips continues with its commitment to improve people’s lives through innovations and this project with SEPAR has brought us together to be able to bring ventilation and monitoring equipment to developing countries”, highlights Javier González-Cappa, commercial director of Sleep
This project has been carried out thanks to public-private cooperation, as well as being a local and international project. The mobile IRCU has been designed by alegría activity and has been equipped with high-tech equipment from Philips, Linde and APEX. This initiative is organized by SEPAR and the Respira Foundation, and has the support of the Vitoria City Council and the collaboration of the Ministry of Health and the International Federation of the Red Cross.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s lives and facilitating better outcomes across the health continuum, from healthy behaviors and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips uses its advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, health monitoring and informatics, as well as consumer health and home care. Philips posted revenue of €17.2 billion in 2021 and employs approximately 78,000 workers, with business operations and services in more than 100 countries. All Philips news can be found at www.philips.es/prensa
For more information:
Cesar Garcia Requena
Brand
Philips Iberica
Tel : 670 264 471
Email: cesar.garcia.requena@philips.com
Ruben Marcos / Daniel Calvo
Europe Press Communication
Tel : 91 359 26 00
Email: rubenmarcos@europapress.es / daniel.calvo@europapress.es
