Qalb it-Tfal Foundation, together with the staff at the Neonatal Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital, has set up a Basic Life Support (BLS) programme within the paediatric unit to teach and guide new parents on how to deal with stressful situations, including choking, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and assessing their newborn child.
To set up the programme, the foundation purchased six basic life-support mannequins, comprising two specialised mannequins for healthcare professionals to improve their skills, and another four to be used to teach basic life-support skills to a wider audience, including staff and the public. The mannequins, unveiled during the Christmas period, will be loaned out to healthcare professionals, BLS providers and for teaching purposes in schools and Mater Dei Hospital’s Neonatal Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (NPICU), where they are based.
Working alongside the NPICU and the Medical Illustration Unit at Mater Dei, the foundation is set to release multidisciplinary informative video clips and leaflets to help educate parents on how to use BLS skills on their newborns and children.
The mannequins were purchased thanks to a fundraiser organised by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, along with sponsorships from Prohealth Ltd, Ganado Advocates and Blevins Franks Charitable Foundation and many donations from the public.
Qalb it-Tfal (QIT) is committed to continuing its work to help and support vulnerable children in need in society.
In this regard the foundation is aiming to:
• Start a counselling and psychological service to parents and staff at the NPICU in the first quarter of this year;
• Purchase or rent an apartment where families would be able to stay, so that they can be close to their children while they are in the NPICU. This is a long-term project that has no target date, yet it is one that QIT would like to reach one day.
• Continue to help suffering children, but in 2018 focus more on children suffering due to a problematic social background.