Mud run funds buy ‘vein viewer’ for Stanton hospital

Organizers behind the NWT’s annual mud run say money raised has been used to purchase new equipment worth $21,000 for chemotherapy patients at the territory’s Stanton hospital.

CIBC Run for Our Lives, which holds a mud run in Yellowknife and events in other communities each summer, said the money purchased a VeinViewer Vision2 – a machine that projects a patient’s vein pattern onto their skin in real time.

The device helps medical staff see and understand a patient’s blood pattern and reduces the number of needle-sticks required.

“It also offers greater protection of veins for future use and improves efficiency for both the staff and patients when caring for patients with smaller or less obvious veins,” the Run for Our Lives team said in a post to Facebook.

“Our committee is dedicated to improving the quality of care northerners receive when enduring cancer treatments,” said Tricia Bourn, who chairs the NWT’s Run for Our Lives committee.

A close-up image of a VeinViewer Vision2 projecting a blood pattern onto skin.

“We are thrilled to be able use the funds raised from our mud run and community events to make these types of purchases.

“We are very proud to continue to work with the staff at the Stanton Hospital chemo unit to provide patients with improved equipment and services that they may not have access to otherwise.”