Incubator for Infants – Zdroje Hospital

In Western Pomeranian Wojewod function three Intensive Care Departments for newborn babies with respiratory or circulatory malfunctions, especially for pretermborn babies, which have no chance to survive in peripheral hospitals. If the child is not transported quickly and safely to the department it can be deprived of its opportunity to live or develop properly. One of the hospitals (the hospital in district Szczecin Zdroje) poses specialized ambulance for transporting prematurely born babies from every point of the wojewod. From 1989 the team of the ambulance has transported ill babies who required intensive care to Szczecin. Thanks of such organization mortality of pretermborn babies has drop significantly. The ambulance transports around 300 babies annually in the Western Pomeranian Wojewod covering large distances between hospitals, up to 300 km one-way. The team also transports newborn babies between specialist departments for surgery, X-rays, laser treatment, optical care, intensive diagnostic check up, cryotherapy etc. Those babies weighing below 750 g at birth need particularly good transportation, which can only be supplied by having a high standard respiratory incubator with a multifunctional monitor and infusion pump. The ambulance transporting the equipment needs to be of a high standard and have good suspension to prevent discomfort for the newborn child on Polish roads. The ambulance they use (Ford Transit) has bad shock absorbers and the bumpy ride could contribute to additional problems, such as internal bleeding. This can happen easily during transportation of the smallest premature babies – the smallest one was carried from a hospital Swinoujscie to the hospital in Szczecin Zdroje and had a mass of 360 g. The main problem is the technical status of the ambulance equipment, which consists of the portable incubator, respirator and infusion pump set for road transport. The portable incubator is 12 years old and has many faults. It does not hold the correct temperatures, which cause the child to be put at risk from low temperature. The covering dome of the incubator is cracked which makes continuous observation of the baby difficult. Safe transport is a good beginning to future medical treatment, therefore we place a high value on securing the baby has the best possible treatment which at the moment is hampered by inadequate equipment.