St Michael’s Neonatal ICU Depends on the Siemens RapidLab^® 1265 Blood Gas Analyser for Critical Care Testing

The neonatal ICU at St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol (part of the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust) has recently purchased a RapidLab^® 1265 Blood Gas analyser from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics to provide comprehensive critical care testing parameters in an accurate and timely manner.

The RapidLab^® 1265 is a high volume, low-maintenance whole blood analyser that offers blood gas, electrolyte, metabolite and full co-oximetry analyses from a single sample. It delivers accurate results in 60 seconds or less, allowing medical staff to make critical decisions at the earliest opportunity.

Neonatal Technician, Bridget Robbins, comments, “The babies we care for often require complex surgical, cardiac and medical intervention. It is vital that our blood gas analyser gives fast and accurate results since ventilator settings, fluids and drug levels are calculated on these results. We find that the Siemens RapidLab^® 1265 gives us faster results, which saves staff time and is better for the patients.”

The Peter Dunn NICU at St Michael’s Hospital is a regional specialist centre for neonatal intensive care, caring for over 600 babies every year from all over the South West of England. A critically ill baby may require blood gas analyses every 30 minutes, and so the RapidLab^® 1265 is located in situ to ensure that tests can be performed and results obtained as soon as they are required.

Bridget Robbins continues, “The complete range of parameters offered by the RapidLab^® 1265 is of use to us in the care of critically ill babies. In particular, Met haemoglobin may be a side effect of specialised treatment, and so we have to monitor levels closely in case treatment needs to be altered. “In addition, estimated haemoglobin may give an early indication of anaemia. The system copes very well with neonatal blood samples. We do not need to use magnetic “fleas” to control clots.”

“Our experience with Siemens’ systems in the past has been very good and we have received excellent support from the Help Desk and our local Siemens representative. All in all the RapidLab^® 1265 has been a good and economical choice for us.”

All reagents for the RapidLab^® 1265 are contained in easy-to-use sealed cartridges, making the system extremely easy to use and maintain.