Helping Babies Breathe: A Volunteer’s Mission
Dr. Charlie Cassidy is currently volunteering at the Bishop Joseph Sullivan Center for Health in Côtes-de-Fer, Haiti. In addition to providing patient care, he is working hard to build the capacity of health professionals in Haiti. There is no better gift than giving someone the skills they need to do it themselves. As Abdul Kalan says, “building capacity dissolves differences. It irons out inequalities.” Read about Dr. Cassidy’s work bringing neonatal resuscitation skills training to Côtes-de-Fer.
The Heartbreaking Statistics
Haiti has the highest neonatal mortality rate in the western hemisphere and ranks 162nd out of 195 countries worldwide in neonatal mortality.[i] This means that the neonatal mortality rate in Haiti is higher than that of several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon, Swaziland, Uganda, and Burundi.
In Haiti, there were 25 neonatal deaths for every 1000 births in 2016. In comparison, in the United States, the neonatal mortality rate is 4/1000. In 2013, there were an estimated 6,800 neonatal deaths in Haiti, 90% of which occurred in the first week of life.[ii]
Dr Charlie Cassidy, a CMMB volunteer physician at the Bishop Joseph Sullivan Hospital (BJSH) in Côtes-de-Fer, Haiti, hopes to help reverse this trend.
“I observed several of our resuscitations and, while they generally went well, believed I saw an opportunity for improvement by working to standardize our approach,” said Dr Cassidy.
Globally, it is estimated that 1 million children die every year on the day they are born.
Delivering the highest possible quality of care at the time of delivery can significantly reduce infant mortality.[iii] “I spoke with our medical director, Dr Jean D. Laguerre, and he agreed that some additional training on the topic would be a good way to help BJSH stand out as a center for excellence in maternal and child health.
“Providing the highest quality of care for our patients is our top priority,” said Dr Laguerre.
Dr. Cassidy provides training to Haitian health professionals.
After a generous donor agreed to contribute funds for a neonatal manikin, Dr. Cassidy held a training session for nursing staff and physicians at BJSH that was based on the Helping Babies Breathe initiative. Participants were able to practice ascertaining a newborn’s pulse, proper technique for providing rescue breaths through a bag mask, and chest compressions.
They were led though a series of scenarios that required them to tailor the care they provided to the infant’s changing vital signs and level of activity.
“Everyone really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to gain hands on experience in a relaxed setting,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I believe that putting these standards into practice is one small step towards helping save the lives of some of the most vulnerable patients in Haiti.”
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Notes:
[i] UNICEF 2016 https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/neonatal-mortality/
[ii] Addressing the Child and Maternal Mortality Crisis in Haiti through a Central Referral Hospital Providing Countrywide Care, Lee D Jacobs et al, 20 Perm J 59 (2016).
[iii] Healthy Babies Network https://www.healthynewbornnetwork.org/numbers/