Opened in 2014, our new pediatric heart center in Managua, Nicaragua, is growing daily into fulfilling its mission to cure heart problems in impoverished infants and children who are either born with heart defects or acquire them in childhood. This project will train and equip two Intensive Care units with automatic syringe pumps designed to dispense six medicines simultaneously in an accurate dosage rate to our little patients as they emerge from the operating room and begin their recovery.
The impoverished children of Nicaragua are plagued by an unusually high incidence of heart problems; the waiting list at the children's hospital stands at 750. Either congenital or acquired in infancy, these heart problems are managed and cured in the developed world, but not in Latin America, where the afflicted children will weaken and die from a curable condition. In 2014, we built and furnished a modern pediatric heart center in Managua and we are now working to equip and supply it.
This project will acquire two syringe pumps, modern devices designed to deliver up to six medicines in the proper dosage (timing and quantity) automatically. Infants and children emerging from open-heart surgery spend some days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) under the care of the local team of ICU nurses, overseen by a pediatric cardiologist and a supervising physician. To achieve the desired recuperation, these little patients absolutely need their medicines dispensed accurately.
In addition to delivering surgery, Surgeons of Hope provides training to the medical professionals in modern surgical techniques and provides equipment and supplies to continue the work after our team leaves. The collaborative training that is key to each mission ensures that in time, the teams will no longer be needed. Training is key to the Surgeons of Hope philosophy. Providing a hospital and training to the local medical staff ensures that the progress in care will be sustained.
