The six new incubators
Image: Tracy-Lynn Ruiters
A wave of generosity has brought new hope to some of the smallest and most vulnerable patients at Tygerberg Hospital, after the Tygerberg Hospital Children's Trust blessed the hospital’s neonatal and pediatric wards with life-saving equipment.
The hospital recently received six state-of-the-art incubators and a specialised Olympus bronchoscope, equipment that doctors say could save the lives of premature babies and children facing critical respiratory emergencies.
For medical staff working in the hospital’s paediatric wards, the bronchoscope is particularly significant. The instrument allows doctors to perform highly delicate procedures inside a child’s lungs, often when a foreign object has been inhaled.
Professor Pierre Goussard, a paediatric pulmonologist at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital, explained why the specialised equipment is so vital when treating children.
“It can only be done by equipment like this because what happens in children, it dwindles down to the lower part of the lung. So then you have to go into small divisions.”
He said without the device, doctors would have to rely on far more invasive procedures that carry significant risks.
According to Goussard, the flexible bronchoscope allows doctors to reach deep into the small airways of a child’s lungs and safely remove objects that have been inhaled.
He added that access to this kind of specialised equipment is rare in many parts of Africa.
“We live in South Africa, we complain a lot, obviously. But, I mean, these sort of things doesn't exist in Africa. So, we sometimes get children from the Eastern Cape where they've had things in, we had one child in which for eight years they had a piece of plastic stuck.”
Alongside the bronchoscope, the hospital also received six advanced incubators imported from Germany, ordered in November last year to help care for premature babies in the neonatal unit.
Professor Lizelle van Wyk, a neonatologist at Tygerberg Hospital, said the donation comes at a crucial time for the busy unit.
“The neonatal unit at Tygerberg is very grateful for this donation. It is a significant amount that has been received. The six incubators are really much needed for the units.”
Van Wyk said Tygerberg runs one of the largest neonatal units in the country.
“We are the second largest neonatal unit in the country. We have just over 800 very low birth weight babies born every year, which is quite a significant amount, and it is an increasing birth population in the Western Cape as well for the last few years.”
Premature babies are particularly vulnerable, she explained, as their thin skin makes it difficult for them to regulate body temperature.
“The small babies that are so small, they are very dependent on the warm periods that are created by these incubators. If the babies are so small, their skins are very thin, they lose a lot of water. And if they lose a lot of water, they actually get cold and the risk of them dying is quite significant.”
The incubators help create a stable, warm environment where fragile newborns can grow and develop safely.
“So these incubators keep them warm. They create an environment that is very comfortable. And as they grow, their skin is actually mature within the incubators and we are able to keep a lot of them warm, growing and send them home successfully.”
For the organisation behind the donation, seeing the equipment put to use is deeply rewarding.
Louise Theron, CEO of the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust, said it is a privilege to help provide equipment that directly saves lives.
“I think it's the most satisfying thing in the world to hand over equipment that you know is going to save lives. These babies are so vulnerable and for Tygerberg to have this equipment and assist them in saving lives, making it easier for the doctors and the nurses who have to take care of these little ones, that's a privilege of the Trust.”
Theron encouraged members of the public and potential donors to support the Trust’s work in equipping the hospital with critical medical equipment.
“That is why we need support. And that is why people can contact me if they want to also donate critically life-saving equipment to the hospital via the Trust. We are registered. We can give them Section 18A certificates for their donations. If they want to save lives, they can donate to the Trust.”
Anyone wanting to donate to the trust can contact them on: [email protected]