Health department donates medical equipment to Jersey Zoo

Medical equipment including anaesthesia machines and patient trolleys have been donated to Jersey Zoo by the island’s health department.

Health and Community Services (HCS) said the equipment would help a “diverse array” of patients.

It said animals that included orangutans and gorillas were expected to benefit from the donation.

The zoo said the equipment would be useful because of a “lot of crossovers” between animal and human medical care.

HCS said it had supported Jersey Zoo “for some time” when animals required urgent surgical procedures, including general anaesthesia.

The equipment would let the zoo better monitor and ventilate any creature being treated, it said.

HCS’s planned care lead for the Surgical Services Group, Jemma Hammond, said: “Medical devices need to be changed regularly to make sure they meet health and safety requirements and align to advancements in technology.

“We recently had to purchase new anaesthetic equipment, and we wanted to ensure that the equipment that was no longer required by HCS went to a good home.”

Zoo head vet Dr Allan Muir added: “There are a lot of crossovers between the health and medical care of animals and humans.

“Having this new equipment will allow us to better monitor and ventilate the diverse array of patients we anaesthetise here at the zoo’s hospital.”

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