Māia is thrilled to renew its three-year partnership with the Buddle Findlay Child Health Foundation.

The partnership is a stellar example of how Māia is working together with its business partners to help take our health system from good to great.

The Buddle Findlay Child Health Foundation recently purchased a simulation manikin for the Child Health service at Waipapa Christchurch Hospital at a cost of $75,000. SimBaby is a high-tech training manikin that aims to give paediatric staff from all disciplines, the opportunity to train as a team in managing simulated clinical emergencies.

SimBaby simulates a 9-month-old child and is designed to help staff recognise and respond effectively to unwell children, allowing them to experience the type of medical events that are expected in a hospital setting.

“SimBaby takes us to the next level of realism and immersive simulation. Simantha, as she has been named by staff – blinks, has pupils that respond to light, can have a seizure, and have a chest drain inserted – amongst other things,” says paediatrician, Dr John Garrett.

“Children can have different physiological responses to illness or injury compared to adults. Learning how to effectively recognise and respond to respiratory emergencies, shock, and cardiopulmonary arrest can improve a clinician’s ability to respond more confidently in an emergency,” says Dr Garrett.

“It is important to try and emulate the difficulty of working on a small patient, including things like intubating a baby-sized airway, and using paediatric-size devices.”

Buddle Findlay Child Health Foundation Trustee, Julia Gabrielle, says the Foundation is there to help hospitals provide a service to children that they might not otherwise be able to offer through a lack of resources or competing priorities.

“A principal focus of the Foundation is to provide funding assistance to help meet the health needs of children receiving treatment in hospital.

It is fantastic to see that the SimBaby simulation programme will enhance the care of infants and children in Canterbury, and enable the healthcare team to provide the safest possible care for such vulnerable patients.

Our Foundation is firmly committed to improving the experience for children and infants in hospital care and helping them to stay well and out of hospital in a direct and tangible way,” says Ms Gabrielle.

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