Claustrophobia

My clinical site, also my employer, has to turn away numerous patients due to them being claustrophobic or too large. We only have one magnet and it is a short bore Philips MRI, but for the true claustrophobic it doesn't matter how short the bore is. This summer we are finally getting an open MRI and are so excited about it, hopefully it will increase our volumes and productivity tremendously and will be very convenient for our patients. One thing I thought was above and beyond when I started at Lourdes was what the MRI techs do to help a person get through their exam in the closed MRI when they are claustrophobic. It is amazing how much it helps calm a person just to know someone is right there with them. The techs will stand in the magnet room with a patient either holding their hand or just patting them on the leg every now and then just to let them know they are not alone. It relieves some patients claustrophobia just to know that someone is there to get them out right when they need out and that they will be able to speak to someone at any time. I thought this was very compassionate of the techs by making sure they got the test they needed without rescheduling the exam or delaying the patients treatment.