By William B. Guyol, Jr., M.D.
Progress at Hôpital Sacré Coeur continues. The case of baby Dorfils illustrates how far we have come and how even the less than glamorous jobs can save lives. The confluence of several of our initiatives combined to save the life of this baby girl.
Last fall, volunteers John and Sandy Gilbertie, Deb Paine-Motyl, Jill Winter, Joanie Bailey, Emily John and Tammy and Steve Pisoni’s children went through our new warehouse, inventoried every item, recorded it in a computer inventory system and slapped a barcode on the box. It was a massive, hot and dirty job. Even the doctors and nurses chipped in when they were finished with their clinical duties. The job was finished just before supper on Friday. Gone are the days of rushing from the hospital to the depot and other scattered storage areas frantically searching for a critically important item.
Ian Goodman, a pediatrician from Massachusetts worked in the pediatric clinic all week. On Tuesday he saw Dorfils, a one and a half month old girl with broncholitis. The baby was congested, wheezing, and in severe respiratory distress.
Dan Rowely and Natalie Napoliano were spending the week teaching respiratory therapy to our nurses and physicians – the first class in what will be a formal training program. Ian rushed from the clinic to the classroom and asked Dan and Natalie if they could set up the Philips/Respironics V60 Bipap machine to give the baby additional oxygen under pressure, which is something unheard of in years past.
Dan and Natalie knew the V60 was only approved for use on older children. They brainstormed and decided to create a jerry-rigged device to provide bubble CPAP. When they told Ian they needed a number of things, including a nasal cannula and CPAP circuit, he said “I inventoried one of those yesterday.”
They rushed to the warehouse, looked up the item in the computer, found it in the correct storage bay and within two minutes were on their way back to the hospital. Natalie hooked up the device, using a humidifier bottle to create a water column, taped various circuits together with Dan’s “magic” pink tape and soon Dorfils was breathing more comfortably. It was touch and go for the next several days but by the end of the week she was stable.
This is what we do. Extraordinary effort by the entire team under difficult circumstances saved the life of this little girl.
William B. Guyol Jr., MD, practices Internal Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Guyol also serves as Vice President of the CRUDEM Foundation Board of Directors, chairs the board’s Medical Committee and acts as Volunteer Coordinator.
