New equipment makes a difference for sick kids

MEDIA RELEASE – For immediate release
New equipment makes a difference for sick kids.
Friday 21 August 2015 Tairawhiti District Healthwww.tdh.org.nz

The hot cross bun you ate last Easter may just be helping to make a difference for sick children in Planet Sunshine. Five cents from every pack of buns sold, plus hours of fundraising efforts from Countdown staff contributed to the National Countdown Kids Hospital Appeal. For the first time Gisborne Hospital and its Children’s Ward Planet Sunshine was one of the recipients of the national appeal.

The $50,000 donated last November has funded a wide range of essential equipment. The most popular of which is a large, comfortable chair that converts into a bed, says Sue Cranston, Planet Sunshine Quality and Education Coordinator

“It is helping mums or dads who have to spend a night with their child in hospital get a better night sleep. The other option for parents who are watching over their child during the night is a Lazyboy chair.”

The equipment we have been able to purchase with the contribution is a godsend saysPaediatrician Dr Shaun Grant.

“Six new monitors have been purchased, including a fully equipped cardiac monitor. For the first time there will be a monitor available for each nurse on shift. Previously we have had two hand held monitors and when we are busy it is difficult for the nurses to get around all the patients to monitor them on time. If we have children with low immunity – cancer patients for example – we can leave a monitor with them. This is a much safer option and reduces opportunities for bugs to be spread.”

“We now have a baby training mannequin. It is proving to be an essential piece of equipment for training staff. Cardiac arrests happen so infrequently in very young children. Without a tool like the baby mannequin it is very difficult to keep those skills fresh. We are now run a training scenario each Friday morning. Staff get to use the baby mannequin to practice both their resuscitation skills and working as a team. Previously we used a doll for our training scenarios.”

“We have young doctors working with us to do their residency. Often they have had little experience with babies and young children. This is an excellent training tool for them as well. The baby plugs into the new wall mounted heart monitor so those doing the resuscitation can immediately see what impact their efforts are having.”

Another new piece of equipment that will be appreciated by families is the sleep monitoring equipment for sleep studies, says Paediatrician Dr Mary Stonehouse. “We have never had anything like this before. Children with serious sleep issues have had to travel to Auckland for investigations causing extra strain on families. We will now be able to do those investigations at Gisborne Hospital.” “We also have a new humidifier. This has been a bad winter for babies with bronchiolitis. The humidifiers really help give these babies some relief with the ability to deliver warm, moist oxygen to them.

Ruth Krippner, Chair of the Countdown Kids Hospital appeal and Paul Vincent, Countdown Gisborne Manager who was representing the local Countdown staff who worked tirelessly last year to raise money for the appeal came to Planet Sunshine to see what their efforts had purchased.

Clinical Care Manager for Women Child and Youth Nicki Dever thanked the Countdown Organisation for choosing Gisborne Hospital to be one of the recipients of the annual appeal. She thanked local Countdown staff in particular for the BBQs and raffles they held. I also want to thank the people of Gisborne who supported the appeal; those who bought a sausage sizzle, bought raffle tickets and bought hot cross buns. Five cents from each package of hot cross buns sold went to the appeal and Gisborne sold the third most buns in the country.”

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