Medical Equipment

We provide various medical equipment to the teams we support. This equipment costs a lot of money, but makes a huge difference to the staff in caring for the children they look after, and is actually saving children’s lives in our communities and hospitals.

As part of our support for the medical teams we support in hospitals and our communities we provide:

• SATs Monitors (Heart monitors) – SATs monitors allow a family to have their child out of hospital and at home by providing 24/7 monitoring of heart rate and oxygen saturation levels. A child with cardiac and/or respiratory problems needs constant assessment and the device is set to alarm when levels change. Families who use the monitor will have peace of mind, reducing anxiety and worry as the device will give warning of when to take action before it is too late. This will allow families who are loaned the device from the Community Team the opportunity to have a little bit of normality – the chance to have their child  out of hospital, the chance to leave the house for days out and most importantly the chance to sleep at night.
• Portable Suction Machines – These machines mean that families can have their little ones at home who are ventilated with a tracheostomy. They are simply life changing machines. We had one with Evie and although we only used it once in an emergency at home, it shows that we would have been in a very serious situation without it being available…
• Breast Pumps – If a baby can’t swallow, or struggles to feed, but mum wants to feed them using her own milk it can lead to a very stressful and upsetting situation for everyone; mum can’t feed baby, resulting in frustration, feelings of guilt and the physical pain that goes with not feeding. Baby gets frustrated and hungry waiting for mum’s milk… if a breast pump is always available then mum can express whenever she feels she needs to, and build up a stock of milk. This means that if the baby is fed through a tube they can be given mum’s milk, or if they are struggling they can be encouraged and have plenty stored ready for when they get the hang of it/feel better.
• A Nippy Clearway – a very clever piece of equipment that helps children to cough and clear their lungs. This is a life saving piece of equipment, and also helps prevent admissions to intensive care as the physios are able to help children on the wards using this machine meaning they avoid needing more urgent care, or in some cases a ventilator.
• ECG Machines & Medical Scales – We have helped the community teams in West and North Cumbria with the creation of an annual clinics for Down’s Syndrome children by providing ECG machines. Children with Down’s often present as being well, and having the opportunity to be fully checked over at an annual review (an MOT if you like!) is crucial to identify any changes or problems which may need further investigation or referral. Thanks to our donation of the equipment to run the clinic the team are now able to check the children’s weight, oxygen saturations, heart rhythm and more in addition to the blood test, blood pressure etc… giving a full picture of the health of the child to inform the nursing staff.

Maria Morton, community nurse and member of our Advisory Panel, said “Team Evie has really given us the belief over the past few years that we can push forward and develop our services. We are thrilled to be adding the clinic to the services we offer, it will make such a difference to the children and families we work with.”