NEWPORT, Ore. – Cue the fish cam. Stat.

Anxious visitors to the emergency room can now get an immediate dose of relief watching halibut, skate and variously hued rockfish perform an aquatic ballet in a video feed direct from the depths of the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

The image comes from a robotic underwater camera over the Internet through a dedicated connection to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital’s ER. People in the waiting room see the fish float by on a 42-inch plasma screen.

“There is a growing batch of data out there in health care literature that shows that aquariums can have a calming effect on people who are stressed or anxious, and even with people that have problems with delirium or dementia,” said Melissa Swancutt, the hospital’s vice president of nursing services.

She cited as an example a 1992 journal article by Texas A&M architecture professor Roger Ulrich who studied how design affects health. Ulrich found that patients lying on gurneys who see serene pictures of water or other nature scenes had lower blood pressure than patients exposed to exciting pictures.

or to no pictures at all.

“There is also a significant amount of data in autistic and ADHD kids that aquariums have a calming effect,” Swancutt said.

The feed from the fish tank is delayed eight hours to allow the aquarium to react to any unforeseen animal emergencies that might alarm viewers in the emergency room. ER visitors see reruns during part of the day because of the hours that the aquarium’s tanks are dark.

Swancutt paired with Harlyn Jenkins, the aquarium’s director of technology, to make the project happen. They ran the first test Tuesday and flicked the switch for the feed on Wednesday. Start-up glitches aside, they expect it to run 24/7 from now on.

“It’s very impressive,” said Marsh Shumaker, who was visiting from California and waiting in the ER while his father-in-law underwent tests.

TJ Bell of Waldport, Ore., was transfixed. “That is cool,” the 13-year-old said as he waited for his mother. But he had a suggestion that might cause a viewer’s blood pressure to rise rather than ease: “They should put it in the shark tank and watch them feed the sharks.”

Swancutt originally hoped to install a big aquarium in the hospital’s remodeled emergency room, but experts warned that big tanks inevitably leak and the hospital would have to install new plumbing.

“And you have to make sure the fish are healthy, and you have a good maintenance program so some poor kid doesn’t have to watch dead fish floating in it,” she said.

That’s about the time she heard about Jenkins’ idea.

Jenkins had attended a technology conference at the Monterey Bay Aquarium last October and met Internet gurus from the South Carolina Aquarium who had set up a similar system with a hospital there.

From there, it all came together quickly. Members of the aquarium board of directors were so enthusiastic about the project that they offered to pay for the $6,000 camera out of their own pockets.

The hospital agreed to absorb the $1,800 cost of the plasma screen, and local Internet provider Action Networks Inc. donated the Internet connection. Eight months later, the inhabitants of Halibut Flats are doing swimmingly in the ER.

And it may not end here.

In time, Jenkins plans to move the camera to other tanks, even outside to the seal and sea lion exhibits. But it won’t be the octopus tank: The animals are believed to be at least as smart as the average household cat and would probably break into the protective shell and dismantle the camera, Jenkins said.

And forget about the shark tank. Jenkins already tried that, and they attacked the camera and cables, he said.

Jenkins also would like to see the project go to children’s hospitals and schools. “I just want to see this spread as far as possible,” he said.

Likewise, Swancutt has her own dreams.

“I would love to be able to take it to any of our patient rooms on their own TV, and to our infusion center that does a lot of chemotherapy,” she said. “Think about waiting in pre-op for your surgery. It would be awfully nice to have your own personal Oregon Coast Aquarium experience. This could be the start of a whole new thing for us.”

RB END TOBIAS

(Lori Tobias is a staff writer for The Oregonian of Portland, Ore., and can be contacted at loritobias(at)aol.com.)

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