Ice machine
Location – Eagle Ridge Hospital Extended Care and Eagle Ridge Manor
In a hospital, long term care or palliative care setting, ice is an important commodity. It is used for a great deal more than cooling drinks which is not to say ice is incredibly beneficial as a hydrator. It is indeed used to cool drinks but when patients have problems swallowing, ice chips taken in the mouth provide a slow hydrating trickle to slide down the tongue as they melt. At these times, ice provides soothing relief to back of the throat. It is not uncommon for palliative patients to lose their ability to swallow water and the ice chip drip is a desirable alternative source of water.
In another application, ice applied to a swelling in a cold compress is something called cryotherapy which is beneficial for the therapeutic reductions of temperature and swelling. With palliative patients prone to falls, this treatment has an important role in relieving pain by numbing the affected area and in other patients, in treating burns by cooling the burn site, and in reducing muscle spasm, reducing swelling and arresting bleeding. Care givers often apply cold using an iced towel or ice packs and cold compresses and apply these to painful areas such as muscle injury, tendonitis or bursitis. Some treatments require the exposure of injured body parts to ice water baths to reduce swelling and induce the stoppage of internal bleeding.
Given the extensive therapeutic and culinary use of ice at Eagle Ridge Hospital and Manor, it is no wonder we go through huge quantities each day and require equipment that can produce commercial volumes in order to meet our needs. This year we need to replace two ice machines, one located at the ER Manor and the other in Extended Care in the hospital
Cost 2 x $7,500 each, total $15,000
Note: The photograph is used for illustrative purposes only. The equipment purchased may be of a different make and model.
