UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s Hospital has received a $28,523.50 grant from Variety – the Children’s Charity to purchase a portable ventilator for transporting critically ill newborns and children.
The St. Luke’s Foundation will use the grant to acquire a Hamilton T1 portable ventilator package for the hospital’s Center for Women and Children’s Health. The lightweight device provides comprehensive respiratory support and is approved for patient transport.
St. Luke’s transport team moves premature babies and ill children from outlying hospitals to St. Luke’s Hospital for inpatient care. The hospital transports approximately 40 to 50 children annually, ranging from newborns to 17-year-olds, who require ventilation during transport.
The equipment features user-friendly interfaces, clear visual displays and easy-to-understand alarm messages that require minimal training for the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Transport Team.
“Our current ventilator equipment is nearing the end of its usable life for NICU and pediatric patients,” said Kathie Manderscheid, women and children’s services director at St. Luke’s. “It is imperative we have state-of-the-art equipment for our youngest patients. This portable ventilator offers the best possible care for critically ill children who require transport.”
The Hamilton portable ventilator has an expected lifespan of about 10 years, potentially serving 400 to 500 critically ill children during that period.
