Life saver for babies
Newborns and mothers at West Gippsland Hospital will benefit from a Drouin Lions Club donation of $23,552 to purchase a life-saving neonatal resuscitaire.
The donation is from proceeds of the recent Garden Expo event organised and run by Drouin Lions at Lardner Park combined with an $8000 grant from the Australian Lions Foundation.
West Gippsland Healthcare Group (WGHG) chief executive officer Dan Weeks said the donation was a significant boost to birthing services at West Gippsland Hospital.
“The unit has neonatal resuscitaires in three of its four birthing suites. The addition of this fourth machine will mean that a resuscitaire will be set up ready to use in every birthing suite to assist babies in their early hours of life or in the event of an emergency.
“Response time is a critical factor in a clinical emergency,” he said.
Nurse unit manager (maternity) Wilma Wallace acknowledged the Drouin Lions Club and all the volunteers who work tirelessly to support their community.
“This is the second neonatal resuscitaire the club has kindly donated to our maternity unit. Last year they also donated funds from the Garden Expo to our maternity unit and we are extremely grateful for their continued support.”
Drouin Lions Club president Erica Wassenberg said the club was thrilled to again assist the maternity unit.
“The Garden Expo is our major annual fundraiser and we thank our volunteers and the community for supporting the event. Our club raises money through tickets sales and catering on the day so the people that support the event contribute to this donation in their own way,” he said.