It’s day two in Bolivia and procedures are underway! We had one case done in the OR and four cases done in the cath lab today! Things are going rather smoothly!
Today marks quite a momentous day for the Gift of Life International team as we officially open the brand-new Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (ICU)!
The new ICU is a reality thanks to the generous donations we received, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this possible.
Special thanks to the City of La Paz (SEDES), and to our global network of partners—Gift of Life Florida, Gift of Life Rotary District 7505, Gift of Life Metro New York, Gift of Life New Jersey, Gift of Life Long Island, Gift of Life Rotary District 7490, Gift of Life Central New York, Corazones Chiquitos, Hospital del Niño, and Herz Bewegt in Austria—for providing the essential equipment for this life-saving unit.
The Grand Opening!
New pediatric CVICU before being put to use for the first time today!
This morning was the official grand opening of the pediatric cardiovascular ICU!
CEO Rob Raylman, Dr. Rodrigo Soto, and Dr. Harm Velvis attended a meeting at the Hospital del Niño to speak with local hospital staff. After this meeting, Rob Raylman, Dr. Erika Perez, Noemi Cahuaya, and Dr. Wilfredo Pasten cut the ribbon to open the doors of our brand new ICU.
Today will be the first time a patient is treated in the new unit!
Dr. Erika Perez and Gift of Life International CEO Rob Raylman at a meeting this morning at Hospital del Niño.
Speakers lined up on stage from the meeting this morning.
The crowd of hospital staff at this morning’s meeting in Hospital del Niño.
Noemi Cahuaya (technical coordinator at SEDES), CEO Rob Raylman (Gift of Life International), Dr. Wilfredo Pasten (director of Hospital del Niño), and Dr. Erika Perez (pediatric cardiac surgeon at Hospital del Niño) cutting the ribbing this morning at the official grand opening of the brand new pediatric cardiovascular ICU!
Local nursing staff and Dr. Erika Perez (red jacket in the middle of the picture) in the new unit!
Local and volunteer staff in the new unit.
First Patient in the New ICU:
Today, Dr. Perez performed surgery on Adhemar. Adhemar is 11 years old and suffered from an atrial septal defect (ASD).
An ASD is a hole in the heart that is repaired by placing a patch over it! Adhemar is our first surgery this week, meaning he is the first ever patient in the brand new cardiac pediatric intensive care unit!
Here is Adhemar, being wheeled into the new cardiac pediatric ICU as the first patient to ever receive care here!
It is such an amazing feat to finally be treating patients in this new ICU. This has been a project a long time in the making. After a year of fundraising and two months of hard work getting the entire room built and put together, our volunteer and local teams are finally able to put it to the test!
Adhemar receiving care immediately after his operation.
Overcoming Challenges and Persevering:
Dr. James Horstmann using Google Translate to communicate with local nurses and attendings before the translators arrived at the hospital this morning!
Speaking of being put to the test, something our readers may not realize is exactly how much problem-solving, teamwork, and resourcefulness is needed to ensure the success of a project of this size.
There were and still are hundreds of people involved in making this pediatric cardiovascular unit, and although the project is now up and running there are still obstacles to overcome until all of the kinks are worked out!
Learning new and updated versions of equipment, equipment needing to be fixed, using out of the box thinking to overcome an issue like not having enough of a certain type of equipment, and overcoming a language barrier are all things that our team have to do everyday.
For example, Dr. James Horstmann explained today that because the specific room that Gift of Life International has set up to be an intensive care unit was not originally built for that purpose, there are some physical aspects of the building that cannot be changed.
Normally in an ICU doctors and nurses have access to what is called medical air. Medical air is basically just room air, or the air we normally breathe everyday. This medical air gets combined with oxygen in a machine called a mixer, so that nurses and doctors can give patients whatever specific percentage of oxygen the patient needs at that time. 100% oxygen is toxic to the lungs, which is why it must be mixed with medical air before being given to a patient.
The new pediatric cardiovascular ICU only has oxygen connected through the walls to the room, so in this specific ICU special ventilators had to be ordered that have a turbine in them that allows the machine to mix the 100% oxygen with room air (instead of it coming straight out of the wall)! This is just one troubleshooting instance out of many that had to be figured out in order for the success of this ICU to come to fruition!
That being said, our team never lets these hurdles get in the way! With the cooperation, creative thinking, and compassion from everyone on the team, we always persevere. Whether it be administrative personnel, surgeons, doctors, nurses, translators, or ancillary staff, everybody does their part to keep the cogs in this machine well oiled.
Local nurses and attendings are learning to use new and updated equipment.
It was a semi-quiet day in the new pediatric cardiovascular ICU today, which is a good thing! This means everything is going smoothly!
Dr. James Horstmann and nurse Sarah Linton providing care for Adhemar.
Our local and volunteer teams of nurses and doctors were able to use the ICU for the first time and get used to the new ebb and flow of things. This new unit will pave the way for more surgeries to be possible for the local team while the GOLI team is not here, and this trip is vital for the progression of the unit!
The local and volunteer teams being able to break it in together is crucial for the future success of not only the unit, but everyone involved! We are excited to continue this upward trend throughout the rest of the week!
Tomorrow, we will take an inside look at the catheterization lab, and dive into what procedures are performed there, how they work, and get a look at the little hearts we will be healing at Clinica Obrajes the next few days – be sure to stay tuned!
Brenda Small is the Operations Consultant at Gift of Life International. She assumed this role in 2012.
Brenda was inspired to help children in need with heart disease after her third child was born with a complex heart defect and underwent successful open-heart surgery in her first year of life. Brenda learned of Gift of Life International in 2006 at which time she established Gift of Life Los Angeles where she holds the position of President. Between 2008 and 2012, Brenda volunteered her time to help with Gift of Life International in addition to running Gift of Life Los Angeles.
From 2012 to 2022, Brenda held the position of Director of Operations for Gift of Life International. Today, she continues this lifesaving work as Operations Consultant. Brenda also implemented the Nutritional Program in El Salvador in 2008 which has now provided nutritional support to more than 250 children and their families. Brenda has traveled with many of the Gift of Life training teams and witnessed these precious lives being saved.
