Thanks to a grant from the Solano Community Foundation’s Leslie Anderson and Virginia May Anderson Fund and funds from the NorthBay Guild Golf & Tennis Classic, NorthBay Medical Center now has a specialized, metal-free ventilator to aid trauma patients in need of an MRI.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a key diagnostic tool used to help physicians determine best courses of treatment for trauma victims. But, a critically ill patient breathing with the help of a regular ventilator cannot have an MRI, because no metal is allowed near the machine.

The new piece of equipment, called an MRI Ventilator, has no metal parts, which means that patients who need help breathing can be put on this special ventilator before undergoing an MRI.

“Now that we have a MRI Ventilator we’ve been able to provide advanced diagnostic imaging and make real differences in treatment decisions and people’s lives,” says Becky Prenton, clinical manager of Respiratory Care Services at NorthBay Healthcare.