Save a Child’s Heart project
A unique, integrated project in which Medtechnica has partnered with the Edith Wolfson Medical Center and the Saves a Child’s Heart (SACH) humanitarian organization to establish an international pediatric cardiac center. Medtechnica’s cross-functional team spearheaded the multidisciplinary professional aspect of the project, including the establishment of industrial ORs, advanced hybrid ORs, recovery wards and intensive care units. Additionally, Medtechnica integrated Philips imaging systems, patient monitoring systems and Philips, Masimo & Hill-Rom devices, as well as Getinge industrial ORs, tables, pendants, lights, multimedia systems, ventilators & anesthesia.
SACH is an Israeli humanitarian organization working internationally to save the lives of children from countries where access to pediatric cardiac care is limited or nonexistent. Founded at the Wolfson Medical Center in 1995, SACH has saved the lives of thousands of children from dozens of countries and has brought many local healthcare professionals to Israel for training so they can treat their own children independently and create centers of excellence in their home countries.
The organization’s core value is Tikkun Olam – doing good to repair the world and believing that every child deserves the best medical care, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality or financial status.
For more info click here: https://saveachildsheart.org/our-history
The Humanitarian delegation to Tanzania on behalf of the Save a Child’s Heart foundation
In late March of 2022, Eran Heruthy, senior clinical apps manager and clinical applications specialist in the X-ray sales department at Medtechnica, went to Tanzania with a humanitarian delegation from the SACH organization to catheterize children with congenital heart defects.
Diary by Eran Heruthy
“The day before the flight, the radiologist who was supposed to go with us tested positive for Covid, leaving me alone and in charge of the X-ray and hemodynamics field.
I had contemplated how I would manage and integrate myself into the delegation with colleagues who had been on these delegations several times and gained a lot of experience working with the local staff. Soon, I found myself in a close-knit group of super-professional people, each in their own field: interventional cardiology, pediatrics, nursing, documentation and filming, organization, logistics and management. Good people with dedication, sensitivity, endless commitment, and the ability and desire to work long and demanding hours in difficult conditions and with a great commitment to the mission.
This is all reflected in the joint work between members of the delegation and the local staff. After being asked a number of technical questions by local technicians, I found my place, in the exact field I deal with on a daily basis in Israel and abroad (clinical application & training). This enabled me to work with delegation members and to guide, teach and support the local staff.
One of the goals of the delegation was to transfer the knowledge and training of the locals (some of whom underwent extensive training at Wolfson Hospital) in order to provide them with the tools for independent and organized work, while increasing self-confidence and skill for improved clinical outcomes.
We worked continuously long hours, up to 13 hours daily, with a short break for lunch. Over 5 workdays, we successfully treated 21 children!
And it’s not that we lacked for problems and glitches, but the team under the management of Dr. Sagi Assa (senior pediatric cardiologist & head of the interventional pediatric cardiology unit at Wolfson Hospital) solved everything quietly, confidently, professionally, and successfully!
It is difficult to describe the great sense of satisfaction I gained. You see the sick children and babies, play with them before the treatment, and play with them to soften the shock of entering a scary room full of strangers. All around them are lots of machines, beeps, and flashing lights … these young children have a look in their eyes that is hard to explain. A kind of mature, penetrating look, full of suffering and pain, and the day after a successful treatment, you can see them running up the stairs like healthy and “normal” children, laughing and happy. The parents and family members thank the staff with such honest, moving and genuine gratitude that the penetrates the heart every time.
At the end of 5 long and exhausting workdays, we were able to rest a bit and relax on the Amani beach, on the shores of the Indian Ocean, and on the following and last day we passed by the hospital and took sweet Jasmine, who had been treated two days before and was released to a joyous and happy home. We then had a brunch at the Hyatt Hotel with the sounds of a local orchestra, and I had the privilege of drumming alongside them for one song.
I thank the company I work for, Medtechnica, and especially CEO Boaz Yehezkel, for the mobilization and support of the project. I also want to thank the foundation’s executives and all members of the delegation for the trust and the opportunity they gave me to do good for others and contribute something to the great professional, educational, and social success of this small, high-quality delegation. This was a unique experience that is deeply etched in my heart!
See you in the next round.”
For more information about the Save a Child’s Heart foundation, click on the following link: https://saveachildsheart.org/our-history
