PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Premature or sick babies who need the highest level of care can now stay closer to home and to their families.
Dr. Eddie Chang, chief of neonatology at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health, said the hospital recently acquired a new neonatal transport isolette, which makes life a little easier for parents.
“What this isolette represents is an ability to have an isolette that’s based at Abington. So in the past, we would have to source an isolette from a different facility, and logistically, it just got a little more complex,” he said.
The isolette, similar to a mini intensive care unit, enables air or ground transportation for babies as young as 23 weeks gestation up to 3 months old. Up until now, they would be transferred to hospitals in Philadelphia.
“We expect that we’ll be able to use this process and this team up to 50 times a year,” said Chang. “What that means to us is potentially there will be babies that can remain closer to their families, when in the past babies would have been sent farther away.”
A team of specially trained doctors and nurses accompanies the infant in the transport isolette, including a neonatal nurse practitioner, NICU nurse, flight nurse and flight paramedic.
“Transferring seriously premature babies out of our community can create hardship to local families who want to visit their baby every day,” Chang added. “Welcoming a premature infant into your family can be a very happy, but stressful time. Having a sick full-term baby can also be very difficult. We are pleased to be able to remove the burden of travel to Philadelphia for these already stressed and busy parents.”