For many critically ill newborn babies, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is the first home they will ever know. Some of these at-risk babies rely on the units’ specialist care and treatments to overcome trauma suffered during their birth.
Thanks to a generous legacy donation to the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity, the NICUs at Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston have received a revolutionary machine that is invaluable in treating newborns who are deprived of oxygen before or shortly after birth.
Practice Development Nurse, Dave Speck said: “When complications happen during labour, a baby can be deprived of oxygen, leading to injury to the brain. It is essential that we treat them straight away, by cooling their body temperature. We have just six hours to do this and prevent potential brain damage or other complications that can impact the child’s entire life.
“The Criticool is a system to assist with this treatment of ‘therapeutic hypothermia’. A cooling blanket is wrapped around the baby and cold water is pumped through tiny tubes which reduces the infant’s body temperature. The baby is carefully monitored and rewarmed to normal body temperature after 72 hours.”
Prior to receiving the Criticool system, the only option was to allow the baby to cool down naturally and the NICU Team would request an immediate transfer to a specialist hospital at either Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre or Leicester Royal Infirmary via a specialist ambulance service which was sited at Castle Donington.
Time was always against the team working to transfer the baby within the crucial six hours which was distressing for the parents, especially as in some circumstances, they would not be able to travel with their newborn child.
Having this equipment within the Neonatal Intensive Care Units guarantees that the team can cool down and stabilise the baby within that critical time and parents can be with their child, holding and getting to know their baby whilst it is being treated. The risk of unrecoverable brain damage and the need for other medical interventions are significantly reduced and the baby can recover quicker and leave hospital sooner.
If the baby still needs to be transferred to another hospital, the mother often has had time to recover from giving birth to be able to travel with her child thus preventing parent and child from being separated from each other.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity Manager, Ben Petts said: “We are incredibly proud to provide these Criticool systems for the hospital neo-natal units. They are truly life-saving pieces of equipment that give our highly specialised medical teams a critical resource in providing exemplary care to our most vulnerable patients.”
Gifts in wills account for almost 70% of income for United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity. Leaving a gift in your will to your local hospitals charity will help them continue providing those additional extras to support thousands of future Lincolnshire patients. More information can be found on the website: http://www.ulhcharity.org.uk/wills
Image: Lincoln County Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’s Practice Development Nurse, Dave Speck demonstrating the Criticool system.
