Since the pilot project in 2020, 23 patients have been admitted to the Ventilatory Rehabilitation Unit.
The stroke affected his brain and his ability to breathe, so Mr Mendoza was given a tracheostomy, where a tube is inserted into his windpipe to allow air into his lungs. He was kept in the intensive care unit for about a month before he was moved to the general ward.
Patients with conditions and injuries that affect breathing, such as head injury, stroke, lung diseases, heart attack, pneumonia and spinal cord injuries, would do better when they are moved directly from the ICU to a specialised rehabilitation unit once their underlying conditions are stable, said Dr Lui Wen Li, a consultant with the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at TTSH.
Mr Jaime Mendoza’s family took him to the Bird Paradise at Mandai and are looking forward to a short trip to the Philippines later in the year. PHOTO: EDNA MENDOZA Caregiver training starts as early as the first week the patient is in the VRU, unlike previously, when caregivers were trained only after acute medical or surgical issues had been settled; andOne patient who benefited from going into the VRU early is retiree Lau San Heng, 71. He fell off his motorcycle in August 2023 and suffered injuries to his head and chest. He required a tracheostomy tube and was dependent on a ventilator.