SAN ANTONIO – A Northeast Baptist Hospital chaplain created a simple device that helps families stay connected with their loved ones battling COVID-19 in the hospital.
Chaplain Daniel Hall put together a device called Roman. It’s a remote-controlled car with a selfie stick attached, where you can place a cellphone, and families can video chat with their loved ones.
“On the side of the car, you’ll see Romans 10:13. That’s a childhood Bible verse, a favorite of mine. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,’” Hall said.
Hall put together the device in May after watching a nurse hold a cellphone as a family said their final goodbyes to their loved ones.
“Our nurse goes bedside with all the PPE gear, N95, the shield, all the works, and stands there at bedside basically for 30 minutes with this family while everyone gets on and says goodbye to the grandma,” Hall said.
From a safe distance, Hall can now connect patients with their families on video chat.
“I place the car inside the room, shut the door, and I drive it to the bedside. And then once it’s at the bedside, I invite the family in,” Hall said.
This also allows staff to attend to other patients.
Registered nurse Elizabeth Ramirez said Roman has helped staff in many ways.
“From a bedside nurse perspective, we get something from being able to support families and being able to support patients and being there to hold their hands, or you know, or give them tissues or whatever they need,” she said. “And now, since they’re so removed from that, we’ve lost that key piece of the empathy and support that we get to work through. And this helps us do that in a little bit different way.”
Following the success of the first device, now there are more Romans. There is a total of three at Northeast Baptist Hospital and one at Mission Trail Baptist Hospital.
So far, more than 400 family members have connected with more than 100 patients.