St. Edward Mercy Medical Center N.I.C.U. Transport Dedication
On Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 St. Edward Mercy Medical Center Newborn Intensive Care Unit held their blessing and dedication of the new baby ambulance. This service is the only kind in the region. Families will be able to stay closer to home, work, family, and friends. I was thrilled to have the oppurtunity to be a guest speaker at the ceremony. Of course my son Alex was the real star of the show.
St. Edward Unveils NICU Transport Vehicle
By Pam Cloud
TIMES RECORD • PCLOUD@SWTIMES.COM
St. Edward Mercy Medical Center has another amenity for helping care for babies at its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The hospital unveiled its NICU transport vehicle last week during a dedication ceremony. The neonatal transport vehicle, a used ambulance purchased from the University of Alabama at Birmingham for approximately $140,000, has been equipped to meet the special needs of a critically ill infant.
Alycia Jackson, NICU respiratory therapy supervisor, said the transport unit has a back-up generator and a built-in tank to run the ventilator specifically for neonates.
Jackson said the anchored isolette keeps tabs on the infant’s vital signs, including temperature and blood pressure and helps monitor the lungs, which are usually underdeveloped with a neonate.
Dr. Victor Coloso, neonatologist at St. Edward Mercy, said these special babies require extra care, and the transport vehicle allows first responders and the specially-trained transport team — including a respiratory therapist and a registered nurse — to provide that extra level of care.
“The team is able to determine in transport the oxygen levels, whether there is bleeding in the brain,” Coloso said. “Even the slightest movements can be critical.”
The neonatal transport vehicle will be used to transfer infants in the area to the NICU at St. Edward Mercy from other facilities. St. Edward offers the only Level III NICU in the region.
Coloso said the addition of the unit will allow infants and their families to stay close to home while receiving the crucial care they need.
The NICU unit has already transported its first baby to the hospital from a Waldron hospital; Coloso said both the young mother and the baby were released and are doing well.
“They were not separated at all,” Coloso said.
Service has already begun in select locations of Arkansas; the vehicle will provide service to eastern Oklahoma as early as November. The transport vehicle is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The hospital anticipates transporting three to five infants per month in the first year.
The ambulance was purchased with funds raised by the St. Edward Mercy Auxiliary, through various fundraisers, according to Joan McCoy, past president of the auxiliary.
“The majority of the funds raised were from our annual holiday dinner dance,” explained McCoy. “The rest was from the gift shop and other fundraising events. This is worth all the work.”
In November 2006, St. Edward Mercy launched the NICU, which serves infants born at 26 weeks of gestation and later; the NICU nursery has served almost 500 infants and their families since the nursery opened.
Coloso said the addition of the NICU transport vehicle is a vital step in meeting the region’s growing need for intensive care for neonatal patients.
“We have accomplished another milestone, and I can truly say, we’ve come a long way, baby,” Coloso said.
COREY S. KRASKO • TIMES RECORD Charge nurse Kimberly Sosebee, left, and respiratory therapy supervisor Alycia Jackson prepare the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit transport vehicle for tours and inspection.
